It will be Brad Stevens.
Seemingly, with everything that has been reported of late, it's looking more and more as if the chase for Giannis Antetokounmpo will come down to the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics.
According to Sam Amick, Giannis wants to remain in the Eastern Conference and is most intrigued by the Heat and Celtics as options.
With the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, and Orlando Magic unlikely to make a bold move (one that would effectively break up their cores) for Giannis, that leaves Pat Riley and Stevens. Giannis knows this, and so might the Milwaukee Bucks.
You can bet so does Riley and the Heat.
This bidding war could be disastrous for the Heat
But even though Riley and the Heat won't run away from this next chapter of the rivalry between the two teams, this is very much a bidding war that the Heat probably can't win (if the Celtics go all-in).
And, unfortunately, if the Heat does lose out on Giannis to the Celtics, this isn't one of those outcomes that could be justly blamed on Riley.
While there have been some criticisms of the way the Heat's front office has operated recently (and understandably so), they've clearly put everything on the table for Giannis in this cycle. If the Heat loses out, it will be because another team (perhaps the Celtics) had a (better) All-Star on their roster to swap, and not necessarily because Miami wasn't willing to go all-in.
For example, if the Celtics were to offer a package with Jaylen Brown at the center of it, there's probably nothing the Heat could counter to sway the Bucks away from accepting it. If it came to that, Heat fans could not blame Riley in good faith.
Pat Riley can't be blamed if the Heat misses out on Giannis
Sure, there have been other missed star pursuits that could be blamed on Riley. But not this one.
Reportedly, the Heat was apprehensive about including Tyler Herro in offers for Donovan Mitchell back in 2022. There were whispers that they were looking to hold assets out in their pursuit of Damian Lillard in 2023. They didn't want to move Kel'el Ware in a deal for Kevin Durant.
But not this time around. The Heat are not holding anything back.
Ironically enough, it may not even matter if Stevens and the Celtics are willing to go nuclear with an offer.
The Heat should feel good about their chances of landing Giannis, but if they don't and lose out to the Celtics, Riley won't bear the blame this time around. And fans will be left searching for a new scapegoat.
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