Giannis Antetokounmpo may have unintentionally tipped the Miami Heat's hand on what the offense is likely to look like this season. In what is unlikely to be much of a surprise, one of Giannis' offhand comments during his media day availability did all but confirm that the Heat's risky pace-and-space offensive philosophy is here to stay.
When talking about a recent 5-on-5 run Giannis had with the team, the one thing that stood out most for him was the fast pace that they played at. Giannis is used to playing fast, but that caught him off guard. That likely one means one thing: the fast -paced strategy the team played at last season is not going anywhere.
“We play fast. We were playing pickup the other day, and I was the last person in transition. We are going to be able to get the scoreboard up to 110, 120 and we are going to guard.”
Keeping the pace-and-space offense is risky for the Heat
The question is, will the Heat have enough space to make it work?
In the first season that the Heat embraced this frenetic fast pace of play, it wasn't all positive. Sure, the Heat led the league in pace, but their offense wasn't dramatically better. They were slightly better than average, finishing 12th in offensive rating. In fairness, they did average the second-most points per game, but the efficiency wasn't where the Heat needed it to be.
Theoretically speaking, the hope is that it will change this season. Giannis could single-handedly do that with how efficient he is with the ball in his hands and considering the gravity of the defense that he draws.
Of course, the question remains, does the Heat have enough shooting?
If the additions of Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. are enough to fuel the Heat's perimeter shooting, especially after losing Tyler Herro and Norman Powell, then there's a reason why this pace-and-space scheme could truly pay dividends to the team this season.
But if not, it could put the Heat behind the 8-ball in the first year of the Giannis era.
Could Erik Spoelstra remix the pace-and-space offense?
Let's also not forget how the Heat now have three of the most efficient pick-and-roll ball-handlers on their roster (Giannis, Hardaway Jr., and Davion Mitchell). In the Heat's pace-and-space offense, they were, by far, the least frequent pick-and-roll in the league.
That's largely a product of the pace-and-space offense. It'd certainly count as a big risk to take that element out of their games. Maybe there's a way for Erik Spoelstra to implement more pick-and-roll action into the Heat's pace-and-space system, but that would somewhat defeat the point of the dramatic change.
It will certainly be an interesting experiment to watch over the course of training camp, the preseason, and the start of the regular season. For now, though, it does seem as if the pace-and-pace offense is here to stay.
Time will tell whether this is the right move or not.
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