The Miami Heat acquired their dream trade target of Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer, but few pundits expect them to contend for an NBA Championship with the current roster. A lack of roster depth sees Miami losing many players after sending them to the Milwaukee Bucks. Veteran Bobby Portis did join the team with Giannis as part of the Bucks trade package. However, Antetokounmpo is not worried about the lack of depth yet.
Giannis revealed to NBA Europe that he will “dominate” the rest of the league with a bounce back season:
“This season I will dominate. I want to prove that I’m one of the best players in the NBA. To the fans I want to say, we’re bringing back the HEAT.”
The hope for Miami is that Antetokounmpo can lead the roster to relevance in the competitive East. Teams like the defending champion New York Knicks and newly improved Philadelphia 76ers are currently considered the top favorites to make the NBA Finals.
Franchises with success last season, like the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers, are also ranked above the Heat in most early power rankings. Miami will need to see Giannis have his best season in quite a few years to contend. Antetokounmpo is speaking like he’s planning to do just that.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Coming Off Low Season
Last season was the first time since 2018 when Giannis did not finish in the top four of the MVP voting. Despite winning just two of the MVP races, Antetokounmpo was considered a top four player for seven consecutive seasons in the voting behind stars like Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.
Injuries doomed Giannis from having chance of an MVP Award or any other noteworthy accolades beyond the All-Star team. Strong stats showed that Antetokounmpo was still great, but he couldn’t lead a roster with Myles Turner as his best teammate to success.
Both Giannis and the Bucks franchise started to realize that the end of the road was coming. Milwaukee decided to settle on a trade package of Tyler Herro, multiple young role players, and future draft picks. Antetokounmpo must prove that last year was an outlier to be dominant again for his new team.
Miami Heat Must Make More Moves
Miami’s roster does give some strong teammates to Giannis to start the core off with some promising names. Bam Adebayo remains one of the best centers in the NBA and showed he could take his offensive game to another level last season.
Andrew Wiggins has shown that he can be a main piece to a title contender after winning a ring with the Golden State Warriors. The Heat will also hope to get the best of free agent veteran Tim Hardaway and homegrown guard Davion Mitchell.
Unfortunately, the rest of the bench will lack enough proven players to see them getting respect in the East predictions. Klay Thompson and DeMar DeRozan are two veteran names available that Heat fans hope to see acquired. Regardless, Antetokounmpo entering this season with goals of being one of the best in the world is a good sign.
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