Miami Heat
Players Currently Out: Jimmy Butler (Tailbone), Bam Adebayo (Thumb), Victor Oladipo (Quad), Markieff Morris (Neck)
Going out and getting Kyle Lowry in free agency this past offseason was a huge move for the Miami Heat to make in order to form an All-Star “Big 3”, but Lowry is the only health member of Miami’s “Big 3” right now.
Jimmy Butler has been dealing with a tailbone injury and missed the Heat’s four games prior to their game against the Memphis Grizzlies on December 6, but he only played 25 minutes in that game before leaving early due to this tailbone injury again.
The extent of the All-Star wing’s injury is unknown and the Heat have not said how long he will be out, but they have ruled him out for the team’s game against the Bucks on December 8 and it is likely that he will miss at least a week’s worth of action. Tailbone injuries are tricky because there is nothing you can do to speed up the recovery process and they are very hard to play through, so we should expect Miami to be very careful with Butler as 2022 approaches this NBA season.
While Butler’s status moving forward is cloudy, Bam Adebayo’s is not, as he will miss 4-6 weeks after undergoing thumb surgery on December 7 to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb.
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It is possible that Adebayo could return to the court as soon as the first week of January, but it is much more likely that the team will hold him out until late-January or early-February. With Bam Adebayo out, the Heat are left extremely thin in their frontcourt with Dewayne Dedmon, Omer Yurtseven and P.J. Tucker.
There have been no updates given on Victor Oladipo as he recovers from yet another quadricep injury and Markieff Morris could return over the next week or so from a neck injury that has kept him on the bench for the last month.
The Miami Heat are championship contenders in the Eastern Conference, but with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo out, they are definitely going to suffer some losses to teams that they would normally beat.
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This team does not have a ton of depth on their bench, but they do rank 5th in the league in bench points this season, so guys have stepped up for them.
Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and this bench will have to continue to find ways to be successful on the defensive-end of the floor if they are to hold things down with Butler and Adebayo out.
