The Ja Morant dream for Miami Heat fans may be over. That's if you take ESPN's Tim Bontemps at his word. Bontemps says that he's confident Morant won't be traded to the Heat before the NBA Trade Deadline.
If it's any consolation, Bontemps also said that he doesn't believe Morant will be traded to the Milwaukee Bucks either, which would be a huge disaster scenario if that happened for Miami. Still, if it is indeed true that the Heat aren't likely to land Morant, it does add more credence to the Giannis Antetokounmpo or bust plan for the franchise.
And that may not necessarily be a good thing, considering the level of bidding war that could develop when/if Giannis does eventually hit the trade block.
The Heat are setting themselves up for disaster
The Heat willingly putting all their eggs in the Giannis basket makes it much more likely that they're going to get burned, especially when they have a clear opportunity to land a star player now.
A trade for Morant wouldn't mortgage the entire future for the Heat, but it would cost just enough that Miami doesn't want to completely sell out down that road. Miami will do the deal if it involves expiring contracts, but doesn't appear to have any interest in attaching any assets to an offer. Certainly not any that would jeopardize their chances at a run at Giannis.
That's a pretty big reason why Bontemps doesn't believe Morant will be traded to the Heat.
It's difficult because in a vacuum, Morant may not be the best potential target for the Heat. His ceiling may be high, but there is a great risk attached to this type of move.
But it's the Heat's refusal to even make such a gamble that makes buying into the vision all the more complicated (and frustrating) for Heat fans.
It's this idea that there's an attainable star player in front of them, but the Heat wants to wait for the "next" one, because it has the chance to be significantly better.
In fairness, that may indeed be true. Giannis is a much better player than Morant, and the Heat's trajectory would be completely different if that were the star player the Heat got. But, at the same time, how much longer is the Heat going to choose the mystery box over the sure thing?
In many ways, that's what the chance to pursue Giannis is. There are too many uncertainties that don't make it a foregone conclusion for the Heat.
There's not even a guarantee that Giannis will hit the trade block. But even if he does, there will be a flurry of teams bidding for his services. Who's to say that the Heat will have the most attractive offer on the table for the Bucks?
Honestly, there's a good chance that they won't.
Still, I do suppose it's understandable Miami doesn't want to put themselves in a situation where they don't even have at least the opportunity to go all-in for Giannis and put their best offer on the table.
While Morant may seem appealing to many Heat fans, that dream is probably over. Miami is waiting for a resolution on Giannis, and even though it may seem like the right move in theory, that doesn't mean it's not an incredibly big risk.