Kel'el Ware could be on an All-Star track, but he shouldn't be an untouchable when it comes to potential Giannis Antetokounmpo trade talks. For as much as the Miami Heat may love the young 7-footer, he's a necessary sacrifice if it leads to even a shot to land a superstar like Giannis.
This may not be what fans want to hear, or something the organization may want to do, but it's certainly the right move. It's one that the old Pat Riley would have made without hesitation, and one this front office must be willing to do as we inch closer to what may be an all-out bidding war for Giannis.
The Heat can't overthink a pursuit for Giannis
And this is not necessarily a knock on Ware. He's a very good player and could very well be an All-Star one day. But he's not Giannis. At the end of the day, and in his very specific vacuum, that's all that matters.
Giannis is the type of superstar that transforms franchises, while the Heat still doesn't really know what type of player Ware could be in the future. You never make that bet when Giannis is involved. Point blank.
Miami should be high on Ware and his future, but even if he does reach his ceiling, it won't come relatively close to the player that Giannis is. That should be the ultimate deciding factor here.
What a Giannis package would look like
Theoretically speaking, there's probably no question that the Heat will be interested in Giannis. In fact, this is probably the one superstar trade target they've been waiting to wiggle free. The big question, of course, especially now that it appears that it is beginning to happen, is whether Giannis will be interested in the Heat.
After all, if the initial whispers are accurate, there's reason to believe that the Milwaukee Bucks are at least going to try to do right by Giannis and send him to a place where he'd want to be.
That means for the Heat to even have a fighting chance to land Giannis that he would have to be high on his list of preferred landing spots.
Then, they'd have to make a compelling offer. One of which would almost certainly have to include Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, a salary filler, and all of the Heat's future draft capital.
Even if the Heat were willing to put all of that on the table, there's no guarantee that offer would beat out other competitive offers from teams willing to go all-in for Giannis, too.
The Heat has a path to Giannis. How likely it is to happen remains to be seen, but there is a path. And, realistically, it all begins (and perhaps ends) with Ware.