Q: Ira, how many people do the Heat have in their front office? Shouldn’t they be looking at other things besides this Hail Mary for Giannis Antetokounmpo? One player doesn’t make a team. – Osten.
A: There are plenty with plenty currently filling their plates, including Adam Simon and the scouting staff working the draft and checking in on overseas events. And there are plenty of Beautiful Mind salary-cap equations on Andy Elisburg’s dry-erase board. But you also have to start somewhere, with Giannis Antetokounmpo being the NBA’s “somewhere” of the moment. In order to possibly land Giannis, it likely would require much of the Heat resources, draft capital and otherwise. So you can’t also have those chips in play for other options, in case they are needed for Giannis. Look, at this point last year, no one thought the Heat would land Norman Powell for a bag of beans (with all due respect to Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love). What the Heat can’t allow is to be placed on hold the entire offseason, as was the case with the Summer of Damian Lillard. But Bucks ownership appears poised to move this month, so that presents plenty of time for a Heat alternate offseason runway, need be.
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Q: If Tyler Herro isn’t traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo, do you think he stays? – Sid.
A: I would change that question to “if Tyler Herro isn’t traded,” since there could be potential other deals that would free the Heat from having to decide whether to extend Tyler. But there also is a world where the Heat hold on to Tyler at least through next season’s trade deadline, since they have precious few sizable contracts to deal, otherwise, especially if Andrew Wiggins opts out and Norman Powell leaves in free agency. What would be less likely is Tyler and Norman both returning. That simply did not work last season.
Q: Ira, what if the Heat draft someone for the Bucks at No. 13 and Milwaukee then doesn’t want that player? – Edd.
A: That’s not how it works. If the Heat trade No. 13 in a package for Giannis, then it is up to the Bucks to take on the player selected at that spot. That is why a Giannis trade could come down to draft night, if a certain player Milwaukee is targeting at No. 13 winds up not being there. But once you agree to have a team select for you, then the deal basically is done. To back out at that point would mean to never find another draft partner. (To clarify: The Heat, by NBA rule, must make a selection in this year’s first round, because of a future pick that has been dealt. The Heat then can flip the selected player immediately after he is drafted.)
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