There have been plenty of fireworks over the course of the NBA offseason, but none were as big and loud as the Miami Heat's trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo. And as Nick Wright reminds folks, it's the Heat that are the big winners of the summer.
Despite the other notable moves that took place over the last couple of months, it's the Heat's splash for Giannis that could end up completely changing the landscape of the entire league this season.
“People are calling the Heat huge losers, the Heat got Giannis this offseason. They’re not huge losers. They’re huge winners. They’re just a couple transaction cycles away from being able to win a championship. I do think the Celtics, the sliding doors moment of ‘we could’ve turned Jaylen Brown into Giannis, instead we turned him into Paul George and picks, and that was a big domino in LeBron being back in the conference is a bummer for them.”
The Heat are the big winners of the NBA offseason
Sure, the Heat may have missed out on LeBron James. But, again, there's nothing that happened this summer that was as big as their trade for Giannis. And it's important that the rest of the league remembers that.
Since the trade for Giannis, it almost feels as if there's been a concerted effort from the rest of the league to downplay what the Heat pulled off. The narrative quickly shifted from the Heat not having enough assets to acquire Giannis to that they gave up too much.
It simply doesn't make much sense. Because those two things can't exactly coexist with each other.
Nevertheless, as Wright is pointing out, we can't overlook what the Heat were able to pull off at the start of this summer. They managed to acquire one of the five best players in the league, while keeping their All-Star on the roster.
The Heat now have two of the five best defensive players in the league, along with a better supporting cast than they're getting credit for. They also have the best head coach in the league.
The Heat hate is at an all-time high
The fact that Miami is being overlooked as a genuine contender in the Eastern Conference, even when its roster is not finalized yet, is pretty irresponsible.
I get it. The Heat are an easy target. Their fan base is easy to hate, and the front office has this better-than-thou complexity. That said, it's still foolish not to admit when they make a good move. Or, in this case, a great one.
And no matter how much the rest of the league wants to rain on their parade, Wright couldn't be any more right (no pun intended) when he says that the Heat were huge winners this offseason. It will only be a matter of time until the rest of the league begins to realize that.
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