Heat, Bam Adebayo agree on five-year, $163 million extension
Bam Adebayo came to the NBA with the goal of providing for his mother and changing her life.
His first contract took care of that. And the way he sees it, his next contract sets up his family for generations.
Adebayo and the Miami Heat agreed on a five-year extension that will be worth at least $163 million, the team and Adebayo’s agent Alex Saratsis said Tuesday. The contract has not been signed and won’t be until Adebayo completes a physical. It will be the richest contract in terms of total value in Heat history.
“This is an accomplishment I always wanted to get,” Adebayo said. “Just being able to reach this milestone and being able to generationally change my family’s life and also take care of the people around me, it’s a big deal to me.”
Adebayo will make $5.1 million this season, the final year of his rookie contract. From there, the extension will kick in with a starting salary of somewhere around $28.1 million for the 2021-22 season.
The 6-foot-10 forward/center is coming off the best season of his career. He was an All-Star for the first time, won the skills competition at All-Star weekend, had the game-saving block of a Jayson Tatum dunk attempt in the final seconds of Miami’s Game 1 win over Boston in the Eastern Conference finals and made the NBA’s All-Defensive team.
Pelicans acquire Adams: Former Oklahoma City center Steven Adams agreed to a two-year, $35 million extension with the Pelicans following his trade to New Orleans as part of a four-team deal that also sent guard Jrue Holiday from the Pelicans to Milwaukee.
The deal, which also sent guard Eric Bledsoe from the Bucks to the Pelicans, additionally provides New Orleans with Milwaukee’s first-round draft choices in 2025 and 2027, along with the right to swap first-rounders...