The Portland Trail Blazers were hoping to make Giannis Antetokounmpo their big offseason splash under aggressive new owner Tom Dundon. Although they had the assets required to land him thanks to the Damian Lillard blockbuster, general manager Joe Cronin was understandably reluctant to sacrifice them without a long-term commitment from Antetokounmpo.
Despite the former teammate connections to Lillard and Jrue Holiday, Giannis wasn't willing to commit to Portland for a number of reasons. The primary reason he requested out of Milwaukee in the first place was to contend for a chance at a second ring. It was a similar situation to Lillard in Portland in terms of the organization essentially forcing his hand after years of coming up short despite connections to both family and community.
Lillard realized the grass wasn't greener, coming back to the Blazers where he belongs after two seasons in Milwaukee. It remains to be seen whether Antetokounmpo will follow suit in terms of a potential return to the Bucks. That likely depends largely on whether the Heat can be genuine contenders with him in the picture.
Portland already looks like a better landing spot than Miami for Giannis Antetokounmpo
Well, it's not looking great if early-season success is any indication. The revamped Heat seemed to have sacrificed too many assets to land Giannis in the first place. They surprisingly even have the worst record in the league right now after a 0-4 start.
There were certainly other factors at play outside of winning when it comes to Giannis' reasoning behind not taking the Blazers seriously as a suitor. We don't necessarily know what was going on behind the scenes in terms of the Giannis-Dame relationship.
He also seemed set on staying in the Eastern Conference, with a close flight to Greece and a seemingly easier path to the Finals -- none of which the Blazers could provide.
The Heat, in all likelihood, will right the ship and become a playoff team considering how much time remains in the season. But it would be foolish to consider them a genuine contender after seeing how rough the Giannis fit has been to start the season.
Not even necessarily the fit itself, but the aftermath of the roster after going all-in for a top five player.
Ultimately, it depends on how much winning was truly a priority over these other previously mentioned factors for Giannis, who had a lot of leverage when it came to picking his landing spot given the short-term contract.
But from a winning standpoint, it always felt like the Blazers were an overlooked dark horse. They were one of the few teams that checked all of the boxes in the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes: expressed interest, enticing future assets to effectively jumpstart a rebuild, and perhaps the most overlooked factor, enough depth to still compete after landing him.
Did they not learn from the Phoenix Suns' decision to go all-in for Kevin Durant, which owner Mat Ishbia even recently admitted himself was a mistake?
It's easy to poke holes in Miami's depth after winning the sweepstakes, hence the concerning record. Meanwhile, the Blazers have more guards and centers than head coach Micah Nori knows what to do with. They probably wouldn't have even had to sacrifice a lot when it comes to established players, given how desperate the Bucks should be to get their own future draft picks back.
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