MIAMI (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo is 31 years old. He has a history of injury issues, including calf strains. He played in only 36 games for the Milwaukee Bucks this past season. And he will be expecting an extension that could pay him nearly $1 million per game a few years from now.
Some of these things could be considered red flags.
Not to the Miami Heat.
Here's one of the rules in this era of NBA basketball: When you have a chance to do something
big and potentially get into the mix to win a championship, you jump in with both feet. There's no more waiting around. If the parity era — eight different NBA champions in the past eight seasons — has taught teams anything, it's to be aggressive when opportunity presents itself.
The Heat had a chance. They accepted the cost. They made a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks and traded for Antetokounmpo.
It's a risky proposition. If the Heat hadn't landed Antetokounmpo, fans in Miami would have been furious especially since the team has swung and missed a few times when trying to land other stars — Antetokounmpo included — in recent years. This time, it was Boston that appeared to be the team that missed out on a trade that evidently would have cost the Celtics a star in Jaylen Brown.
The Heat and Celtics are rivals. Heat President Pat Riley didn't like the Celtics when he was with the Lakers, didn't like them when he was with the New York Knicks, doesn't like them now. Losing out on Antetokounmpo surely didn't sit well with Riley. Losing out to the Celtics would have made it worse. But there's an added benefit to Miami winning the Giannis sweepstakes, in that Boston now has either some fences to mend or some deals to make.
“I get to see some negativity that I didn't want ... just adds more fuel to the fire,” Brown said Monday in a Twitch stream, which came out hours before the Antetokounmpo trade news. “I see some comments or takes that I didn't even care to see, that just gives me more fuel to the fire. So, all the people who doubted me, that want me to do this or want me gone or whatever, you're turning me into a monster.”
Those words could be interpreted in a slew of ways. Brown — an NBA Finals MVP who basically carried Boston for much of this season with Jayson Tatum recovering from Achilles tendon surgery — could easily be mad at the Celtics for offering him in a trade.
That's the risk part.
Brown knows, and the rest of the world now knows, that Boston is willing to trade him. It's part of the business. But it can still leave players furious, especially when they are going through such a thing for the first time.
So, while there's uncertainty in Boston, there's relief in Miami.
The Heat got their guy, adding to a brilliant few days of sports news in town. The Florida Panthers acquired Brady Tkachuk on Sunday to play alongside his brother Matthew Tkachuk on a team that has won two Stanley Cup titles in the past three seasons. Inter Miami's Lionel Messi scored twice for Argentina at the World Cup on Monday, becoming the greatest goal scorer in that tournament's history. There are three World Cup matches in South Florida this week, including a visit from thousands of Scotland fans who are becoming celebrities on this trip. And Monday night, the Heat pulled off the Giannis deal.
“We're all fans,” Panthers hockey operations president and general manager Bill Zito said. "This is cool. Now I get to see Giannis — but I’m from Milwaukee. I feel bad for the Bucks, but I am so happy for the Heat.”
Antetokounmpo was never a fan of the trade talk, even though he was mentioned in countless rumors over the past couple of years. He's got to be relieved it's over.
“GOD, I trusted you at the beginning, and I will continue to trust you throughout,” he posted on social media Monday, a few hours before the Bucks and Heat completed their negotiations and got the trade done.
Free agency starts next week and there will be plenty of intrigue. LeBron James has a decision to make about either staying with the Lakers or playing somewhere else — if he plays at all, that is. Oklahoma City has some interesting roster decisions looming a year after it won a title, and reigning champion New York has most of its core locked up but has some things to figure out as well.
But the biggest splashes these days are done in trades, and the Heat are now officially all-in on chasing another title. They obviously believe Antetokounmpo is still one of the very best players in the world. It's up to him to prove them right.
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