Cote: Despite the chorus by Boston army, Miami Heat will land Giannis | Opinion
The folks in the national sports media sometimes move like lemmings, all following each other — able to suddenly turn in perfect unison and head in the same direction, like flocks of birds. In nature this is called “murmuration.” In media this might be called “laziness,” although you would mistake someone shouting an opinion into a microphone as journalism at your own peril.
And so many of these voices — almost as if they were hired propagandists — are suddenly championing the Boston Celtics over the Miami Heat as a proper trade landing spot for NBA offseason prize Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Just this week for example, across various TV, radio and podcast outlets, Tony Kornheiser, Nick Wright, Kendrick Perkins, Chris Broussard and others have all fallen in line in trumpeting why Giannis should prefer the Celtics over the Heat and why Boston might be in position to offer his present team, Milwaukee, a better deal.
Others, such as Michael Wilbon, have likened Antetokounmpo to a guy whose best days are in the rear view. Even the usually reasonable Stan Van Gundy, to a question I asked on the Dan Le Batard Show, cautioned about Giannis’ recent health issues and wondered if a core of Giannis and Bam Adebayo was enough to become a contender.
It’s a weird summer to be a Heat fan.
Your biggest traditional rival, the New York Knicks, just won the NBA Finals for the first time in a thousand years as Jalen Brunson rocketed up the charts among the pantheon of all-time Big Apple sports heroes. And your most recent top rival, the Celtics, now appear the biggest (and certainly most promoted) threat to steal Giannis from what once seemed the Heat’s tight grip.
The NBA leads the sports world in offseasons, and this year’s summer intrigue holds its own against even the quadrennial soccer World Cup playing out across the U.S. and rightly hogging attention. South Florida is filled with fans rooting for the U.S. national team and thrilled that Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi just scored three goals in one game for Argentina.
In Miami, though, even as the city hosts seven World Cup matches, just as many fans are riveted on the soon-to-be-decided future of Antetokounmpo, and whether Pat Riley and the Heat can finally land another whale and lift a listing franchise mired in four straight play-in seasons.
I believe optimism is still warranted, and that the pimping on Boston’s behalf if fundamentally flawed. That is mainly because it presumes the Celtics would part with Jaylen Brown in a package to acquire Giannis — even though the respected Boston Globe has reported that isn’t so.
There is a big chance Boston wants to keep its Jayson Tatum/Brown pairing intact. And the Celtics certainly are not as desperate or as motivated as Miami to make a bold move to shake things up and get unstuck.
For what it’s worth DraftKing’s latest betting odds on Giannis’ likeliest landing spot still has Miami a narrow favorite at -110 to Boston’s +130, with staying in Milwaukee next at +800.
Miami would reportedly offer Milwaukee a package including Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., either Pelle Larson or Kasparas Jakucionis, and up to three first-round draft picks plus draft swaps. A deal might well involve a third team, and likely would be done before the June 23 NBA Draft.
Sans Brown, Boston would be hard-pressed to top Miami’s offer. It also is believed Giannis prefers Miami. He’s friends with Adebayo (they share an agent), and in fact speculation has Antetokounmpo already house shopping in South Florida. Miami also leads Boston in livability, the absence of a personal state income tax, a better head coach and more excellent Greek restaurants.
A Giannis/Bam nucleus in Miami would also have Norman Powell, who averaged 21.7 points and was an All-Star this past season, and Andrew Wiggins, a solid starter who averaged 15.4 points, plus at least two or three promising young players. Adding Giannis also makes Miami a much more enticing destination for other free agents.
As for the 6-11 Antetokounmpo being past his prime at age 31, he averaged 27.6 last season even beset by injuries. Prior, he was top-four in MVP voting seven straight years and top seven nine straight years.
That is consistent, relentless excellence by a player still absolutely top 10 in the NBA. And Adebayo is top 25. That duo plus Powell/Wiggins and the league’s best coach equals a contender in the bunched NBA East.
All of this is why I still predict and would bet that Miami is about to land Giannis ... even as the media lemmings touting Boston say otherwise.
