There's virtually no way the Miami Heat would be able to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo without including Nikola Jovic and Kel'el Ware in their trade offer. Despite the high price, it's certainly a sacrifice the team should be willing to make.
In fact, there should be really no doubts or hesitation to make such a move.
Jovic and Ware have the potential to be very good players down the line, but their ceiling doesn't even come close to the player that Giannis is at the height of his powers. While trading these two promising young players (even though Jovic finds himself in a slump to start the season) would hurt, you do this deal 10 out of 10 times for Giannis.
This is Giannis we're talking about, and if he's available, I'm not sure there's a player on this Heat roster that would be considered off limits in trade talks. In theory, you'd want to keep Bam Adebayo out of those conversations, but even then, you still make that swap if you have to.
Giannis has the potential to transform the Heat
That's because Giannis has the potential to completely transform this Heat franchise. Despite their better than expected start to the year, no one is going to mistake this Heat team as a contender, even in the weakened Eastern Conference.
The Heat have been a nice story, but they're on a four-game losing streak, and the luster surrounding their new and improved offense has been lost. It's quite clear that they need a spark, and one that will have a lasting effect on this team.
They need a superstar. While that is going to be much easier said than done, Giannis is probably the best it gets. And if there's even a small chance that they could acquire Giannis at the trade deadline or during the offseason, there should be no stone unturned in an attempt to get a deal done.
Ultimately, even though the Heat have some valuable young players on their roster, isn't this what they've been building toward? The moment that they have enough assets to flip for a superstar player?
This has been their blueprint for the last few decades, and it's worked out more often than not.
Giannis' potential availability is the next opportunity to make a splash that the Heat has been waiting for. And after missing on Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard, and Kevin Durant over the last few seasons, the Heat need to put themselves in the best position not to make the same mistakes again.
Willing to make nearly every player on their roster on the table, including Ware and Jovic, would be the first step in accomplishing that.