The Miami Heat were able to secure what will be the most impactful addition of the offseason when they pulled the trigger on a trade bringing Giannis Antetokounmpo to South Beach. Pat Riley has high hopes that one of the best players in the NBA will immediately team with Bam Adebayo to form a stifling defensive pairing. If there’s a concern, it’s on the offensive end.
A relative lack of outside shooting may allow opposing teams to pack the paint and gum up the works amid less than ideal spacing. Stephen A. Smith was on “First Take” today to give Heat fans a pep in their step by reminding everyone that Miami does not yet have a full roster. And to forecast big things for Giannis.
Stephen A. Smith’s Giannis prediction
“A front line with three guys at least 6’10” … Giannis can average 30 in his sleep,” Smith claimed.
Time will tell. One figures that if Miami wanted this immense talent then they are going to do everything in their power to ensure he is the focal point of the attack. Yet it’s worth looking at his track record to see that averaging 30 points per game has not something he’s been able to do even while fully awake.
Last season Antetokounmpo struggled through injury and was only able to pour in 27.6 per contest for the struggling Milwaukee Bucks. There’s plenty of reason to believe that’s evidence to be thrown out completely. The two seasons before he was right at 30.4 and three years ago was the high-water mark of his career at 31.1. Before that, he had never done it in his previous nine NBA seasons.
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The best basketball of his life has come when he’s been able to distribute the basketball to the tune of 6.4 and 6.5 assists per game the last two years he’s been healthy. If Miami cannot figure out a way to put reliable shooting around him, individual and team scoring will be much more difficult.
Also, it must be stated that at this point of his career, Giannis like so many stars, has to be healthy and productive during the playoff run the Heat desire. It doesn’t really matter if he challenges for the league’s scoring title in the regular season as all that will be graded is what happens with elimination on the line.