Miami Heat: Ripple effects of Bam Adebayo’s max extension

The Miami Heat are punting on Giannis Antetokounmpo (or are they?)

The only reason the Heat could have to hold off on extending Bam Adebayo is if they were convinced they had a shot at wooing Giannis Antetokounmpo in free agency next summer. Given that this extension is imminent, it suggests they expect that for one reason or another (like he plans on extending with the Bucks himself, for example) they don’t expect to get their chance after all.

However, Barry Jackson did suggest that Giannis would be more impressed by the Heat taking care of their young star rather than hoarding cap space to pursue him:

"By the way, someone who knows Giannis well told me Giannis would be more impressed by Heat extending Bam than by making Bam wait a year for his money to get Giannis more easily. Bam and Giannis are friends."

Does this mean anything? Probably not. And even if Giannis is impressed by this, the Heat roster has likely become far too complicated to be able to pull off a sign-and-trade like the one that landed Jimmy Butler last offseason.

Sometimes it’s better to count on the things you have and take care of your business than to hold on to a far-off fantasy that will likely never come true, and more than likely, this is the pragmatism that has caused Pat Riley and the Miami Heat to choose this course of action.