Former Heat rival is not sold on the team with Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2026-27

The Miami Heat made the trade to get the Greek megastar official on Monday, yet former rival Danny Green, who competed against them in three NBA Finals, doesn’t see the hype in getting Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Green said, “If Giannis has a calf strain, they will be in the lottery this year.” He added that he thinks both these teams will be in the Play-In, plus that the Heat are not very talented outside of Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, but he sees them being better in two years.

Yet one wonders if the Heat signing his old pal LeBron James, who basically gifted him a ring in 2020, would be enough for Green to take them seriously.

When challenged with the Heat going to the 2023 Finals with undrafted role players, Green responded that the team had unity and Jimmy Butler. That’s true, but a healthy Antetokounmpo impacts the game in extra ways and plays harder between October and April than Butler. Keep in mind that Antetokounmpo hasn’t fallen off from the level of being a two-time MVP as he’s been in the top-three in voting after he won in three of the last six years.

The Bucks only had Antetokounmpo for 36 games last season, winning only 17, but coach Erik Spoelstra is not Doc Rivers. The Heat with Antetokounmpo are superior to the latest version in Milwaukee with him, and newsflash: if any team has their star player miss significant time with a calf strain, they’ll likely be compromised, too.

Some common sense

That’s not rocket science since a team shouldn’t be expected to operate at the highest level, if such a significant piece, which they was built around, is absent. After all, shouldn’t he know better when his teams benefited greatly when the second best player for the Heat, Dwyane Wade in 2014 and Adebayo in 2020, were diminished in the Finals?

Jun 18, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green (4) waves to the crowd during NBA championship celebrations at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Green is not a hater, but his skepticism is misguided. For example, Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell are more than the Bucks had to help the point-of-attack last season. Playing with them will make Antetokounmpo and Adebayo more potent in the backline, since the disruption up top will give them an extra moment to get into position.

The team needs more playmaking and shooting, yet Green is underestimating the other role players, and perhaps even Spoelstra, too. As presently constructed, the Heat are built more for 16-to-28 games of the playoffs, just like the early Jimmy Butler-led teams, but should still be expected to have a strong regular season with all players highly motivated.

The Heat are at their best when underrated, and to their benefit, it looks like they will start the season that way if former players and analysts follow Green’s way of thinking.

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