The Miami Heat may feel strongly about their chances to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer. Considering where things currently stand, it'd be difficult to blame them. However, if they do end up missing out on Giannis this time around, it could paint a painful lesson for this proud organization.
And it'd revolve around the idea that they need to either be better at asset management or completely alter the way they build rosters in the future.
If the Heat want to be star chasers every few years, they need to figure out how to acquire more assets in their down years. For example, had they seen a strong pursuit of Giannis coming, they should've put themselves in a better position asset-wise over the last few years.
They didn't, and it's a big reason why they may get outbid for a star player (again) this summer.
Heat need to be better with asset management
And if there's been one common theme for the Heat over their last few years of chasing star players, it's been the fact that they just don't have the premier assets (mostly draft capital) that teams trading star players are seeking.
Even though the Heat may feel they have enough to pull off a trade for Giannis, they only technically have three tradable first-round picks at their disposal. Again, the Heat may get lucky, but that's normally just not enough firepower to enter a high-stakes bidding war.
What type of changes could that prompt for the Heat? Well, it probably starts with dumping their antiquated "commandment" of not trading veterans for assets. That wouldn't solve all of their problems, but that could be a starting point if Miami were looking to tweak its approach moving forward.
Heat could embrace the new draft lottery rules and build through there
But, say, the Heat isn't ready to go down that drastic path, perhaps they should change how they plan on building rosters altogether. And, maybe, they'd be more willing to lean on their draft-and-develop strategy more.
And now that the lottery is going through more reform, that would play right into the Heat's hands; maybe this is not that outlandish of an idea.
Either way, there has to be some sort of commitment from the Heat, one way or the other. And, the hope is that after this Giannis saga, the Heat decides to choose a path forward.
Honestly, that's what most Heat fans want to see out of this summer. A vision. Because right now, especially if the Heat ends up missing out on Giannis, it's tough to say exactly what that is.
But that's where this front office can learn a cruel lesson from this Giannis pursuit. If they miss out, it's only going to further prove that there needs to be some big changes. And they won't be able to refute that fact at that point.
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