Mailbag: Would trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo even be enough for the Heat?
The Miami Herald’s Heat mailbag is here to answer your questions. If you weren’t able to ask this time, send your questions for future mailbags via X (@Anthony_Chiang). You can also email them to achiang@miamiherald.com.
CryoCove: Are fans really supposed to believe that trading our entire future for Giannis makes us a contender for championships? Or is this just about a spike in revenue for the Arisons? Why can’t the Heat see how the Celtics, Thunder and Spurs have built around the growth of draft picks?
Anthony Chiang: The point of the Heat making the move for Giannis Antetokounmpo is to move closer to championship contender status as part of a wide open Eastern Conference. Would a trade for Antetokounmpo put the Heat in the same class as the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder? Probably not. But the Heat (or any team that comes out of the East) only has to beat one of the Western Conference’s elite teams in the NBA Finals.
As far as following the team building model of the Boston Celtics, Thunder and Spurs, the Heat is actually currently building around the growth of draft picks. The Heat opened last season with six of its own first-round draft pick on its roster: Bam Adebayo (lottery pick in 2017), Tyler Herro (lottery pick in 2019), Nikola Jovic (2022), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (2023), Kel’el Ware (2024) and Kasparas Jakucionis (2025). That ties the 1992-93 Heat team for the most on any opening night roster in franchise history.
The problem for the Heat is none of those players were top-10 selections. The highest pick in that group is Herro, who was taken with the No. 13 overall pick in 2019. In other words, the Heat simply hasn’t been bad enough to get top picks.
By comparison, the Celtics are built around two top-five picks in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. The Spurs have three top-five picks at the center of their roster in Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper. The Thunder traded for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was then just a rising star, and then selected Chet Holmgren with the No. 2 overall pick in 2022 while stockpiling draft picks in trades during its rebuild.
For the Heat to get a top-five pick in the draft, it would likely have to get lucky in the draft lottery. Because the Heat, which stands firmly against tanking, is almost never one of the worst teams in the NBA. The good news for Miami is the league’s new anti-tanking lottery system makes it more likely the Heat could rise to the top of the draft even while finishing the regular season with a middling record.
@DADDOISTIRED: Any chance of a pivot to Trey Murphy III if Giannis falls through? Better defender, younger and costs less than Donovan Mitchell?
Anthony: This is an interesting thought, but there’s one important question that needs to be answered before the Heat makes any move that’s going to cost significant assets: Does the acquisition of “Player X” make the Heat a championship contender?
As referenced in the first question of this mailbag, Antetokounmpo would be expected to make the Heat a contender in the East, and that would put the Heat closer to an NBA Finals appearance. After all, he is a two-time NBA MVP and has made an All-NBA team nine times. Meanwhile, Trey Murphy III has never been an All-Star or made an All-NBA team. So, a trade for Murphy would be a bet on his upside as a 25-year-old who appears to have his best basketball ahead of him.
But this bet on upside would be a risky one, considering that the Heat would likely be left without enough assets to make an additional trade for a star if it trades for Murphy. The Heat would need to have conviction that Murphy could turn into an All-Star and All-NBA player.
