The Giannis Antetokounmpo era in Miami did not start great. They have won their last two games against weaker competition, which plays into their start being a little concerning. Odds are, they'll be in the hunt for a playoff spot, but calling them a title contender? That might be a stretch despite having a titan like Giannis.
The problem is how much they lost in terms of personnel to make room for Giannis, a problem the Boston Celtics wanted to avoid when they tried to avoid. Many criticized them for not anteing up when they had the chance, but the Heat have shown, through their sluggish start, why they didn't want to.
And now, it could potentially get even worse.
Good for Miami for showing some improvement. It's not like they were going to lose all of their games, but it's already clear that they are on the clock with the two-time MVP. The Athletic's Sam Amick revealed during his appearance on The Athletic LIVE that Antetokounmpo will not be playing the waiting game.
"Giannis is not trying to wait... the gap between where they are currently and where they wanted to be at this stage is kind of troublingly wide."
The season is still young, but losing your first four games, while the fit has looked pretty awkward between Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, is not encouraging. The Heat definitely have time to figure it out, and even when they've finished with medicore regular season records, that hasn't stopped them from reaching the NBA Finals.
This further shows why Boston drew the line
There were plenty of reasons as to why Milwaukee sent Antetokounmpo to Miami instead of Boston. Most notably, it was because it was much more likely to go wrong with the Heat. Contrary to popular belief, outside of Giannis, they don't have a player of the same caliber as Jayson Tatum.
Pairing those two would have been scary, but what also would have been scary is if Brad Stevens caved to their demands and dealt even more of Boston's depth, not only would it have been tough to replace, but the elephant in the room of Antetokounmpo's long-term future with the team would be up in the air.
Going all in for Giannis meant going all in (even if it was for less than what he was worth). It was something Miami was willing to do because they didn't have better options. Moreover, they were desperate. It's not like Boston didn't want the Greek Freak, but their desperation level wasn't nearly as high that they would throw that much caution to the wind.
If the Heat don't really get it together, they are in trouble. The kind of trouble that the Celtics wanted to avoid, even if it meant they weren't getting Antetokounmpo. It's only October, but it looks like Stevens made the right call.
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