Giannis alone might not be enough for the Heat

The Miami Heat are doing the only thing they know to do, and that is hunt for star players.

The Heat have an obsession with acquiring the league's best, and who can blame them. The issue is acquiring someone of the magnitude of Giannis Antetokounmpo takes a lot of your assets and often strips your team of quality players. This is obviously something that almost all teams are willing to do because the belief is that if you have one of the worlds best players then it should be rather easy to fill out a roster around them.

Miami is hoping to find themselves in this position. They are going all out in trying to acquire Antetokounmpo, really only making Bam Adebayo untouchable. Everything outside of Adebayo is on the table. Landing Antetokounmpo and keeping Adebayo would give the Heat a great starting point, but that would take up significant cap space while also depleting the Heat of their young players, many of which are key rotation players for them that they rely on. The Heat would be left with very little and need to find a way to build the roster out.

Would this be a good problem to have? The answer is unequivocally yes. Having both Antetokounmpo and Adebayo would give you one of the best duos in the league and players should want to play along side them. However, the days of having two good players Is largely gone, with many of the top teams having 3 or 4 players that are All-Stars or near All-star level.

That is where the Antetokounmpo trade can get complicated for some. If the Heat were to add him, would they even be contenders or would they still be far away from the NBA’s elite? I asked our team at Miami Heat OnSI for their opinions on the matter.

Amir Motameni

"No, Giannis alone is not enough to make the Miami Heat contenders for a championship. Giannis would definitely raise their ceiling and make them contenders in the East, but if they want to win a championship, they would need to make other moves to bolster the roster. The Heat would need to replenish their depth and add shooters around Bam and Giannis."

Austin Dobbins

"Trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo is enough to make the Miami Heat contenders, at least in the Eastern Conference. Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo would instantly become the best defensive back court in the NBA, and the offense would be just as good. Although injuries have hindered Giannis in the past two season, he is a 30/11 guy, pair him with Bam --who has improved from beyond the arc-- and Miami will be just fine. The team will have enough flexibility to bring in another solid player with their MLE, can explore bringing back Norman Powell, and they have many solid role players on the team already (barring who they send out in a trade). Pelle Larsson and Davion Mitchell are two prime examples. My biggest concern would be their ability to spread the floor and that's why I think bringing back Norman Powell would be such a big deal for the Miami Heat should they land Giannis."

Ethan J. Skolnick

"On the surface, it doesn't seem like getting Giannis Antetokounmpo would be enough for the Miami Heat, especially if they need to part with so many core assets -- not just Kel'el Ware and Tyler Herro, but perhaps Jaime Jaquez Jr. and others. But... this is the Heat you're talking about. And the one thing the organization has proven it can do, over the past 30 years, and through various eras, is build around a superstar. Pat Riley started with Alonzo Mourning and rose to the top of the East, at least in the regular season. Shaquille O'Neal? An East finals in the first season. A title in the second. The Big 3? Four NBA Finals (albeit with 3 stars but limited resources for that first season). Jimmy Butler? No, maybe it wasn't totally maximized, but still two Finals in four seasons. They can do it again, even in a cap apron era. They're good at finding low end rotation players, and they can re-sign Norm Powell and Andrew Wiggins for some veteran support beyond Bam Adebayo. Contenders? Maybe not for a championship. But for a top three seed in the East if Giannis stays healthy? Sure."

So, is Giannis enough?

As for what I believe, I will keep it simple. Get a top 3 player in the world (Antetokounmpo) and pair him with someone I believe to be the 2nd best defender in the world (Adebayo). This is the core that can attract others to come, but even if they do not get another All-Star level player on the roster (maybe Norman Powell or Andrew Wiggins), then you still have a team that none would want to face when it becomes a race to 16 wins. Those two alone give your team a chance to be the last one standings. Get it done and figure the rest out later.

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