The Miami Heat appear to be passing on the idea of trading for Ja Morant for now. At least until there's some sort of clarification on what will happen with Giannis Antetokounmpo. And you can't really blame them for this decision.
According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, Morant seems to want the Heat to make a move for him, and while Miami does have interest in the star guard, they're planning on waiting to see what happens with Giannis at the trade deadline without making a move they could end up regretting.
Clearly, the Heat doesn't want to make any moves that would hurt their chances at Giannis. With the speculation building around a potential Giannis trade before the deadline, the Heat is keeping its eyes on the ultimate prize. As they should be.
And while Morant may be appealing, the Heat didn't come all this way to throw in the towel now on their dream of acquiring Giannis.
The Heat could get burned
But that means the Heat are getting ready to play a very risky game over this next week or so.
There's a chance that the Heat could miss out on both Giannis and Morant. And that would almost be a nightmare scenario for the team. However, that's the business of star chasing. The Heat knows this. The front office knows this. The coaching staff knows this. And the fans know this.
Despite all of those risks, if the Heat does find a way to acquire Giannis, it would make it all worth it. That's the gamble the Heat are banking on.
And if the recent reporting is any indication, as NBA insider Marc Stein notes, the Heat genuinely believe they can find a way to sway Milwaukee to, at the very least, consider a Giannis trade.
Whether their instinct will be proven right remains to be seen. But you have to trust the Heat's front office. This is the moment that they've been building to (or waiting for) for quite some time now. They just have to execute.
Everything is right in front of them. The stars are available. This is when Pat Riley generally shines.
Where the Heat's roster will stand 10 days from now, who knows? However, there seems to be a real chance that it could look extremely different from what it does right now. And odds are that if it does, Morant or Giannis will factor in to a great extent.