Pat Riley finally got his superstar. Now it’s up to coach Erik Spoelstra to make it work.
This summer, Miami sent Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis and some draft picks to Milwaukee in exchange for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Heat, in turn, got two-time MVP Giannis and forward Bobby Portis. With Bam Adebayo, Giannis, and now Klay Thompson Miami looks like a whole new team.
In theory, it sounds good. But on the court it poses some real questions.
Shooting
Giannis has not been a good outside shooter. Adebayo isn’t either. Two big men on the floor who can’t shoot threes is exactly the kind of thing that has sunk other star-studded teams before (76ers with Embiid and Simmons, 2017 Pelicans with Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins)
Most likely, Spolestra will turn to movement to fix this. Instead of guys standing around waiting for a pass, expect a lot of handoffs, cutting and constant motion.
Adebayo can be a passer from the middle of the floor, while Giannis attacks the basket off plays, rather than clean, set-up shots.
And this is where Thompson steps in. His job is mostly going to be to stand in the corner, knock down open shots
Wiggins and Nikola Jovic will be asked to do the same thing with the wings. If some of those shooters hit shots, it opens up driving lanes for Giannis and Adebayo that Miami didn’t have last year.
Defence
This combination is really exciting defensively. Giannis and Adebayo give Spoelstra two versatile bigs who can guard just about anybody and still protect the rim.
Miami hasn’t had defenders this good in years. The Heat will try to use their familiar zone defense, with lots of switching, to allow Giannis and Adebayo determine who will take jumpers or clean up the board
Another question is who scores in the final minutes of tight games. The last true go-to scorer Miami had was Jimmy Butler.
Adebayo and Giannis aren’t the type of guys who can create their own shot against a set defense. And Thompson is more shooter than shot-maker at this point in his career.
In close games, Spoelstra might have to get creative, putting ball screens on Giannis and Adebayo to create bad matchups, instead of one guy just taking over.
The Coach
Spoelstra has spent his career figuring out how to make imperfect pieces fit, and Riley wouldn’t have made this trade if he didn’t trust his coach to figure it out.
But there’s less room for error than the star power indicates. How fast this group figures things out could be the difference between Miami being a legitimate title contender or just an interesting experiment.
