The Heat don’t expect Giannis Antetokounmpo to settle in right away after spending the first 13 years of his career in Milwaukee, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes.
“You change your address after such a long period of time where you’re comfortable, you know how to operate and know what to expect. It’s different,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We want to be mindful of that, but we also want to be open to the possibilities of change. That includes us changing as necessary to make sure that we’re bringing out the best in him. “This ends up being a symbiotic relationship. Hopefully, we’re bringing out the best in him. Hopefully, he’s bringing out the best in our organization. And there will be a process. We have to work through that. I’ve been at this a long time, and I never have hit it on the bullseye on the first day of training camp.”
When he does get comfortable, Spoelstra is excited at the prospect of having a player that other teams must focus on defensively, seeing that as a benefit to all his new teammates.
“We’ll try to find some other ways to maximize his gifts, but he’s pretty much done it all,” he said. “Pick-and-rolls at the top of the floor with bigs, pick-and-rolls with smalls. Same thing on the wings. But I think more than anything, it’s been his ability to force not a second defender, a third defender. And that creates a bunch of havoc to someone’s defense. We lived it. One extra defender is not enough. And then you get a third one, and his willingness and his improvement with his passing over the years gets you in scramble mode. You have to really be moving and be ahead of things. That part of his IQ and his vision and his playmaking, we’ll be looking forward to exploring that as well.”
Here’s more on the Heat:
- Davion Mitchell is expected to start at point guard for the Heat with Dru Smith and two-way player Tre Donaldson currently projected as his backups. If Miami chooses to add a point guard to the standard roster that has just 12 players on it at the moment, which free agent should it choose? Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel believes Gabe Vincent would be a good fit, if he’s willing to accept the veteran’s minimum. Vincent, who finished last season with the Hawks, spent the first four years of his career with the Heat.
- On a related topic, Winderman examines a question of whether they’re being too patient with a number of prominent free agents still on the market. He doesn’t think so, noting that they already have their three or four best players on the roster and can afford to wait for the market to shake out and fill their remaining needs.
- The team’s top 3-point threats from last season are gone — Tyler Herro and Norman Powell. Do the Heat have enough 3-point shooters around Giannis? The Athletic’s Eric Nehm notes that they acquired Bobby Portis and Tim Hardaway Jr. but they’ll still need internal development to maximize the spacing around their superstar.