Giannis Antetokounmpo wants to compete for another championship, a desire he made clear well before the Milwaukee Bucks traded him. He's now in Miami to try to do just that, but if the Heat's season opener on Wednesday is any indication, their roster doesn't look good enough to win a title.
Yes, it was just the first of 82 games. Yes, it was against the Timberwolves, a team that should finish at the top of the Western Conference. But except for the first couple of minutes, when Antetokounmpo scored the Heat's first eight points, Miami was outmatched.
Antetokounmpo put on a show, as he did in Milwaukee so many times, dropping 35 points, the most ever by a Heat player in their debut. It still wasn't enough, though, as Minnesota ran away with the 131-106 win.
Miami doesn't have to worry about getting past Minnesota to make the East, but the Heat need to at least match that level of competition, given the teams in their conference they do need to be concerned with.
There is a long way to go until April, when the playoffs start, which is good for the Heat, since they still have a long way to go to compete for a championship.
Giannis put on a show in Heat debut, but it wasn't nearly enough
Miami's spacing looked as bad as everyone expected, with the Heat shooting 8-of-33 from deep (24.2%). Their offense looked stagnant, with players standing around, waiting for something to happen, and failing to knock down the open looks they did get.
It sure looks like Miami will have to lean heavily on Antetokounmpo to run the show on offense. He's supposed to be the focal point, of course, but not the only real threat. He needs his teammates around him to create the space he needs to go to work. Or else things could get a lot uglier for the Heat.
Miami's defense clearly wasn't up to par either, but there is reason to believe (as in, looking at Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo) that it will get better. But championship-caliber teams typically rank in the top-10 on both ends of the floor. And although it's a small sample size, the Heat don't look like they can get there with their personnel.
Heat don't look like contenders
It's way too early to write off Miami. Any team that has a healthy Antetokounmpo has a chance to make a run. After all, he's one of the best players in the world. Anyone in Milwaukee can tell you that.
But the East only got stronger over the offseason, so it's not like anyone can say that Antetokounmpo staying in the conference gives him a better chance to win than if he had left for the West.
The competition is tougher, with the Knicks running it back with most of their championship core (minus Mitchell Robinson, who is with the Celtics) and stars like LeBron James making their way back to the East Coast.
There is a reality where the Heat don't earn a top-six spot (which feels even more likely after last night) and have to make it through the play-in tournament to reach the first round. Miami has gone from the play-in to the NBA Finals before, but that was before the conference became the juggernaut it is now.
Above all, Giannis wants to win. That's why he left Milwaukee, the only NBA home he knew, for what he hoped would be greener pastures in Miami, but those pastures don't look like they'll yield the Larry O'Brien trophy.
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