The Miami Heat are arguably lacking a solidified face of the franchise at this time, even though guard Tyler Herro is a gifted scorer and big man Bam Adebayo ranks among the top two-way players in the NBA.
One player who has been linked to the Heat recently and could fit that bill is Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. According to CBS’ Bill Reiter, Antetokounmpo has his eyes on Miami as a trade destination if Milwaukee doesn’t fare well in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
But Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel poured cold water on the idea of the Heat trading for a star of Antetokounmpo’s caliber.
“First, as previously noted, Giannis Antetokounmpo has re-upped at every previous contract window,” he wrote. “So it’s not as if he at any point has turned his back on Milwaukee. But if you do want to get into speculation, also consider where the Heat currently stand at the moment. I’m not sure that any player would go from a roster where he has won a championship to a team that appears landlocked into the play-in round. The reality, is the Heat, at the moment, do not necessarily have a seductive roster, should an external player seek a trade.”
The Heat arguably haven’t even looked like a play-in team lately. The team has lost four of its past five contests, and its lone win in that span came against a lowly Toronto Raptors squad. An overtime period was needed for the Heat to come away with a victory in that contest as well.
Miami has long held a reputation as a disruptive and effective defensive team, but its defensive identity has been nowhere to be seen. The Heat have given up 102 points or more in every one of their last five games and allowed 110-plus points in three of those contests.
Probably the team’s most porous defensive performance in that stretch came against the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 13. Miami gave up a whopping 118 points, and Dallas shot 51.1 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from 3-point range as a team.
It’s unfortunate that Winderman does not see Antetokounmpo wanting to get moved to Miami, because he could seemingly help get the team back to playing great defense. He won the Defensive Player of the Year award earlier in his career and finished in the top 10 in the voting for the hardware last season.
Interestingly, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are soon slated to face off against the Heat. The two teams will do battle on Sunday night. Milwaukee owns one of the better records in the Eastern Conference this season at 31-24 and is riding a three-game winning streak.
