Add Miami Heat centre Bam Adebayo to the growing list of players from the 2017 NBA Draft class to sign a maximum contract extension.
First reported by The Athletic's Shams Charania, and confirmed by ESPN's Zach Lowe, the 23-year-old All-Star has agreed to a five-year, $163 million contract extension, which could become worth up to as much as $195.6 million.
The deal includes escalator clauses that can take its total to $195 million over five years, Saratsis tells ESPN https://t.co/4tomSMJVPU
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) November 24, 2020
Adebayo stands to join De'Aaron Fox, Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum as the two other members of the 2017 NBA Draft class that have agreed to identical deals.
Adebayo, selected 14th overall, is the lowest selection of the four players to be offered such a deal. He is coming off of a breakthrough season in which he posted averages of 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists over 72 regular-season games, earning the All-Star and All-Defensive Second Team honours.
The big man took his game to another level in the postseason, increasing his scoring average to 17.8 points per game to go along with 10.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists. Thanks largely in part to his play, the fifth-seeded Heat made an impressive postseason run, defeating the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics en route to the franchise's first trip to the NBA Finals since 2014.
Adebayo suffered an injury in Game 1 of the Finals, causing him to miss two games and hampering his play, as the Heat would lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.
After the postseason, our NBA.com staff tabbed Adebayo as the 13th-best player in the NBA.
The 2020-21 NBA season is set to tip off on Dec. 22.
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