Is there a world where the Miami Heat pivot away from Giannis Antetokounmpo if a deal isn't completed by draft night? We might be about to find out.
During the Sirius XM NBA Radio show, Deals and Dunks, Chris Haynes mentioned how there's at least a small chance that the Milwaukee Bucks end up taking the Giannis sweepstakes into the start of free agency and that the team is not necessarily operating under a strict deadline.
For a Heat team that is hoping that they have some clarity on the Giannis situation, one way or another, this is not exactly the update that they want to hear. Of course, the question is, how plausible is this scenario of playing out? Is this a real possibility for the Bucks, or is this another tactic to apply more leverage in their trade talks with teams?
That remains to be seen, but it's certainly something else that the Heat's front office will have to deal with.
Are the Bucks playing a leverage game with the Heat?
In theory, if Milwaukee were trying to create leverage, this is one way they would do that. In addition to bringing in other teams, like we've seen with the Boston Celtics over the last week plus, altering a potential timeline on a deal would naturally be the next step.
Especially considering that it's in the Heat's best interest to get a trade done sooner rather than later. And if the Heat feel the pressure that the Bucks are not operating under a timeline, perhaps it would make them include an additional asset or two that they perhaps have been holding back.
From an objective perspective, it's not a terrible plan. The question is, will it work?
If the Heat is the most aggressive team in the pursuit of Giannis, and there is no other team that's going to come with a last-minute trump deal, this could just be a high-stakes game of chicken.
If this is a leverage game that the Bucks are attempting to play, it could come down to which side blinks first. The Heat or the Bucks.
At this point, it's impossible to say which side has more leverage. Much of that could be determined by what Giannis is or isn't doing behind the scenes. Either way, especially with how things have played out over the last few months, the Heat have to be feeling some immense pressure on their end.
When should the Heat feel willing to pivot away from Giannis?
Because if the Bucks are willing to drag this into late in the summer, it could force the Heat to make a surprising pivot. The Heat can't afford to be left empty-handed this offseason, and the possibility of that raises significantly if Milwaukee wants to keep this going into July and possibly into August.
But would the Heat make that pivot?
After all they've invested in a pursuit for the superstar forward, that could be difficult to believe. That doesn't mean it wouldn't happen, especially if they feel the Bucks aren't operating in good faith.
At the very least, it's certainly another complicated layer to this seemingly never-ending saga.
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