{"id":2047101,"date":"2026-07-16T21:30:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2047101"},"modified":"2026-07-16T21:30:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:30:46","slug":"heats-pat-riley-introduces-giannis-turns-focus-to-lebron-another-one-we-have-to-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2047101","title":{"rendered":"Heat\u2019s Pat Riley introduces Giannis, turns focus to LeBron: \u2018Another one we have to land\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

MIAMI \u2014 During the introductory news conference for Giannis Antetokounmpo on Thursday, Miami Heat president Pat Riley revealed how he found out from Andy Elisburg that a deal for the two-time NBA MVP was done, but also revealed where the team\u2019s pursuit of another NBA MVP currently stands.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a call about (the trade) after a month of discussion,\u201d Riley said of the fateful phone call from Elisburg. \u201cAnd the call came late, and he said to me, \u2018We have a deal.\u2019 He closed the deal, and we both sort of screamed out loud. Yeah, we landed the plane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Landing the plane is how Riley and Elisburg have often discussed finishing a big transaction over their years working together, but then Riley made a quick aside.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s another one we have to land,\u201d Riley said.<\/p>\n

Riley was, of course, referring to LeBron James, who has yet to make his free-agent decision and has made the Miami Heat one of six teams he might sign with for next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat definitely helps when you have a top-five player in the world,\u201d Riley said of what already having Antetokounmpo on the roster means for the recruitment of James. \u201cAs far as the 24-year veteran, that is something that would happen organically.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
How the Heat pulled off a heist for Giannis<\/div>\n
Esfandiar Baraheni<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”@id”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/sHGJop76tgRYNLN\/”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/sHGJop76tgRYNLN\/”,”name”:”How the Heat pulled off a heist for Giannis”,”description”:”Esfandiar Baraheni breaks down the trade the sends Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat. “,”uploadDate”:”2026-06-23T17:20:09.711Z”,”duration”:”PT3M”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/cdn-media.theathletic.com\/video-stream\/auto-thumbnail\/sHGJop76tgRYNLN\/doZ6wafq4S1i.0000000.jpg”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/video.nyt.com\/athletic\/streams\/sHGJop76tgRYNLN\/doZ6wafq4S1i\/doZ6wafq4S1i.m3u8″,”transcript”:”Did you notice the Miami Heat pulled off a heist to get Giannis Anntokopo? The full haul that the Milwaukee Bucks got for the former two-time MVP sounds like a lot. Tyler Hero, Jae Haquez, Kahalel Ware, Casperis Yakohoni, three first-round picks, including the 13th pick in the 2026 draft, one pick swap, and a second-round pick for Giannis and Bobby Portis. From the Bucks’ perspective, none of these players are good enough to be your franchise cornerstone. The hometown kid hero is expiring contract that they either have to resign or trade for more assets down the road. The big piece of the pie here for the Bucks are the picks that they got. And while those picks have a chance to be good, it’s hard to bet against the team that just acquired Giannis and rarely, if ever, tanks. The Heat have had just 4 lottery picks in the last 15 seasons. Pat Riley and the Heat organization never throw the towel in, and so those picks, even that far away, might not have. As much value as they would if they were from a different organization. And to further that point, the Bucks don’t control their picks from 2027 to 2030, which makes this trade even more confusing for a team that just made a rebuilding move. Not having talent, not controlling your future picks, it’s a dangerous position to be in if you’re the Bucks, even if you feel like there are a lot of pieces in this trade. And for the Miami Heat, this is them definitively. choosing a direction. After trading Jimmy Butler, the Heat had been stuck in limbo in the middle of the Eastern Conference. And now with Bam Adebayo and Giannis, they have a core worthy of building a championship roster around. It’s not a perfect team. The Heat still need to re-sign Norm Powell this summer and try to add shooting and ball handling to a team that doesn’t have much money to work with. And while the addition of Portis gives them some assurance in the front court, their lack of depth is jarring, and in many ways, they The Heat will have to try and build out their roster from scratch, but they can do that with a player that can lead them to a championship at the center of it all. Giannis. Amid all the trade rumors, what has been lost is just how good of a player Giannis Antetokopo is when he’s healthy. He was top five in MVP voting from 2019 to 2025 and has averaged 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists for the last eight seasons. Those type of players don’t just grow on. Breeze. And while it’s true that the 31-year-old has dealt with injuries the last few seasons and is entering the second half of his career, betting on Giannis instead of toiling in mediocrity is well worth the risk for the Miami Heat. It won’t be easy. It might not even get them to that elusive championship, but the Miami Heat got substantially better after this trade by getting one of the best players in the world without giving up anything of true consequence. That is as big of a win as you can get.”,”ineligibleRegion”:[“BI”,”BY”,”CD”,”CF”,”CU”,”IQ”,”IR”,”KP”,”LB”,”LY”,”ML”,”NI”,”RU”,”SD”,”SO”,”SS”,”SY”,”UA”,”VE”,”YE”,”ZW”],”publisher”:{“@type”:”NewsMediaOrganization”,”@id”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/#publisher”,”name”:”The Athletic”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/”,”foundingDate”:”2016-01-25″,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”@id”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”url”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”creditText”:”The Athletic”,”height”:”60″,”width”:”435″},”publishingPrinciples”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/edit-guidelines\/”,”sameAs”:”https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Athletic”},”author”:[{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Esfandiar Baraheni”}]}<\/p>\n
\n
\n