Heat scrambling for Plan B after realizing Celtics control Giannis sweepstakes

All along, we’ve heard that the Heat are the leaders in the clubhouse to land Giannis Antetokounmpo once he’s finally traded. We’ve been hearing it for years now. We heard it at the trade deadline. We heard it when the offseason started. And we’re hearing it now.

But somewhere along the way, inarguably, doubt has crept in for Pat Riley and the Heat. They’ve been essentially dangling the same measly package for months, and they’ve gotten nowhere. And now, if you read between the lines, it sounds like the Heat are scrambling, as if they’ve accepted their fate and realized Boston has entered the fray and they have the goods.

On Monday night, Jake Fischer reported on Marc Stein’s Substack that Miami is preparing for “big fish” backup options, including Ja Morant, Trae Young, and Kawhi Leonard, in case they lose out on Antetokounmpo. That’s certainly an odd thing to leak out if a team is truly in the driver's seat to land the two-time MVP.

Then on Tuesday morning, Vincent Goodwill went on ESPN’s Get Up and said that league executives have told him that Miami actually thinks that Boston is in the lead. And that would certainly explain their desire to find a Plan B.

Celtics’ deal blows Heat out of the water

The bottom line here is that Miami is accepting reality. If the Celtics are serious about getting in the mix here, they’ve got the Heat beat, plain and simple. The best asset the Heat have to offer is the 13th pick this year. Tyler Herro is arguably a negative-value contract, and their young players like Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, Pelle Larson, Kasparas Jakucionic, and others project as little more than role players.

The Heat’s draft capital is also underwhelming, as they likely won’t control a first-round pick after this year until 2029. They could do two far-out firsts, this year’s, plus multiple swaps, but those aren’t exactly the grand prize the Bucks are looking for, and they’ll be coming from a team that has Giannis.

Just by offering Jaylen Brown, the Celtics should be able to beat that deal. That’s a current top-15(ish) player in the league in his prime. Even if he doesn’t fit for Milwaukee, they should easily be able to move him for a haul, as we’ve already seen evidence of multiple teams interested in acquiring JB.

And even beyond that, the Celtics have a combination of talent, contracts, and prospects like Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez, and others. They have traded player exceptions to go find other assets the Bucks may covet, while Boston currently only owes its 2029 first-rounder and a swap in 2028.

No matter how you slice it, if Boston wants Giannis, there’s not much the Heat can do to stop them. It appears they’ve reached the acceptance stage of grief. We can only buckle up and wait to see what happens next.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow