SerpApi.Org
After years of failing to land some of the big names in free agency, the Miami Heat pulled off a surprise when they won the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, beating out teams like the Boston Celtics to acquire the two-time MVP from the Milwaukee Bucks.
But although folks laud the Heat for landing their latest 'whale', some are worried that Heat president Pat Riley may have given up too much to acquire 'The Greek Freak' so that, if somehow, but hopefully not, Giannis gets hurt, the Heat have no buffer or backup plan.
"I don't think about that,"replied Riley when asked on the "Le Batard Show" if he thought he took a huge risk in trading for Antetokounmpo. "I'm not thinking about anybody getting hurt or anything. You've got to have a positive mindset right now. You see this future in front of us with Giannis, Bobby Portis and Bam. Niko is really a good young player. I think he's going to have his chance to break through in a different way. You still got Wigs, Fontecchio, you got Larson, Mitchell. We got a good group. We signed Tim Hardaway Jr."
Giannis is Pat's biggest catch since LeBron
It's hard to blame Riley for feeling good about what he has right now. Since LeBron James left in 2014, Antetokounmpo is the biggest name he's brought to South Beach. And he's right, there's plenty to look forward to in the Giannis and Bam era, especially if they can add a couple more supporting pieces.
However, Miami surrendered Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr, and Kasparas Jakucionis plus draft picks in the trade and the four combined to average more than 50 points per game last season. So even if Giannis returns to form and averages 30 points per game again, as he's done in three of the last four years, it's hard to see Portis making up the rest of the scoring gap, so it will be interesting to see who steps up.
But more than the scoring output, what LeBatard is worried about is Antetokounmpo's health. Giannis played only 36 games last season, and he's played more than 70 games only once since 2019. Although the Heat did their due diligence before giving the Bucks the bounty, he is already 31 years old and has played 13 years in the league with a style that always pushes forward and a pace that never decelerates. What if his body is actually starting to slow down?
Pat said forming the Big 3 was a riskier move
When Le Batard asked him again if he had ever made a riskier trade than Giannis, Riley said that what he did to acquire LeBron James and Chris Bosh in 2010 was the boldest move he's ever made, because the sign-and-trades were last-minute decisions orchestrated by LeBron's then-agent Leon Rose, and losing six draft picks in those two deals ruined his grand plan.
"The Big 3 turned out to be an all-or-nothing trade. But giving up six picks, we didn't give up players, but we lost players because we had to get rid of players and get their space. And so those players went somewhere else at that time," he added. "You can think about, and we had discussions about trading players, doing sign-and-trades if you could. But we had the ammunition to have people come to us and say 'Hey, we have this guy. Well, he'll fit in right here with these three guys. We'll give you a first, we'll give you a swap."
But they lost a ton of draft picks. However, despite not having the team that he wanted around the 'Big 3', Riley watched the ‘Heatles’ make four straight appearances in the NBA Finals, winning back-to-back in 2012 and 2013. Hopefully, the 2026-27 Heat can find the same success, too, with the addition of Antetokounmpo.
