When the Miami Heat acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo, the thought around the league was that the Heat would finally get back into the title contention picture.
With Bam Adebayo already in the mix and head coach Erik Spoelstra, Miami was expected to challenge teams in the East thanks to their defense and “Heat Culture.”
Instead, the Heat have had a disaster opening week and look anything but a playoff team, let alone a title contender. And the reason why is obvious.
The fit between Antetokounmpo and Adebayo has not been great
Antetokounmpo has thrived with a center that can stretch his floor throughout his career. The reason the Bucks were so successful all of those years was because of the fit between him and Brook Lopez. It allowed for Milwaukee to use the pick and pop to their advantage.
Adebayo is not the same caliber of stretch big that Lopez is. He has not shot above 36 percent from three one time in his career and is coming off a season where he knocked down 32 percent of his threes. This season, he is sitting at a paltry 16 percent.
Adebayo and Antetokounmpo both thrive when the floor is spaced, but neither of them can space the floor and there is not enough shooting or creation around them to supplement them. Klay Thompson is a shell of himself, defenders stay home on Tim Hardaway Jr. because he can’t create off the dribble, and there aren’t enough spacers on the roster.
Miami is asking guys like Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins, and Pelle Larsson to scale up in ways that they are not used to. All have shown flashes of their impact, but it is hard for them to consistently scale up in regards to their roles and responsibilities.
It has led to a crowded paint, almost zero driving lanes, and an offense that ranks 21st in the league through the first week. Adebayo and Antetokounmpo also have a -18.7 net rating when on the court together, including a 108.6 offensive rating.
The Heat gave up a lot to get Antetokounmpo, but it also left them with a lot of holes on their roster. It goes to show that when you do go star hunting, you have to make sure that your roster is ready for said star. Miami does have time to turn it around and it is still very early, but the results have been anything but inspiring thus far.
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