As the Miami Heat gear up for the 2025–26 NBA season, team captain Bam Adebayo is radiating optimism. Speaking at his annual youth basketball clinic at SLAM! Miami charter school, Adebayo shared his thoughts on the franchise’s offseason shake-up and why he believes the new-look roster is poised for a resurgence.
One of the most notable additions is Norman Powell, acquired from the Clippers in a three-team trade. Powell, who averaged a career-high 21.8 points per game last season while shooting over 48% from the field and 40% from three, brings a scoring punch the Heat sorely lacked during their 37-win campaign.
“I feel like Norman is one of those guys that floats under the radar,” Adebayo told The Miami Herald. “But as you saw this year, he’s really shown that he can be an All-Star caliber player… Obviously, the next challenge is being with the Miami Heat. So I’m happy to have him”.
The Heat’s roster overhaul included parting ways with veterans Kevin Love, Kyle Anderson, and Duncan Robinson, while re-signing defensive specialist Davion Mitchell. Adebayo believes these moves have injected fresh energy into the locker room.
“We were kind of disconnected a little bit trying to figure out everybody’s role,” he said. “But now we’re going to have a good training camp and then we go from there”.
Mitchell, who averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 assists in 30 games after joining Miami, is expected to anchor the perimeter defense alongside Powell and Tyler Herro, while Andrew Wiggins and Kel’el Ware round out the starting five.
Adebayo, entering the final year before his $166 million extension kicks in, is embracing his role as the team’s emotional and strategic leader.
“I’m looking forward to all of us being together and getting to know one another and turning this into more of a brotherhood,” he said.
With a revamped roster, renewed chemistry, and Bam’s steady leadership, the Heat are aiming to bounce back from last season’s first-round sweep and reestablish themselves as contenders in a wide-open Eastern Conference.
