Miami Heat star Giannis Antetokounmpo is entering his 14th NBA season. Is he still among the league's elite players?
The Giannis Antetokounmpo signing for the Miami Heat is something new in a sense.
The Heat have acquired superstars in the past.
LeBron James and Chris Bosh came to Miami after playing seven seasons. Jimmy Butler was just 29 when he was traded for from the Philadelphia 76ers. Goran Dragic was 28 when he was acquired from the Phoenix Suns.
And now the Heat are bringing in the 31-year-old Antetokounmpo, who has already played 13 seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. The question is this: are the Heat still getting the player who has been dominant for more than a decade?
The Heat are hoping for a repeat of the Shaquille O'Neal situation. The Heat grabbed O'Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2004. At the time, O'Neal was entering his 13th season but was a year older than Antetokounmpo.
Many considered O'Neal less dominant with the Heat than when he was a top five player with the Lakers and even his younger days with the Orlando Magic. Still, it didn't prevent O'Neal from playing a huge role in the Heat winning their first championship when they defeated the Dallas Mavericks.
Of course, O'Neal was able to lean on youngster Dwyane Wade, who was named Finals MVP and was growing into an emerging star. All signs indicate that Antetokounmpo is still the dominant player who won two MVPs and led the Bucks to a championship in the 2021 Finals against the Phoenix Suns.
Antetokounmpo is in much better physical shape than when O'Neal arrived in Miami. In fact, O'Neal was considered out of shape that first season before slimming down during the championship season. The only thing Antetokounmpo is lacking is a big-time sidekick similar to Wade.
This could be the time for Heat center Bam Adebayo to finally become a consistent scoring threat. There's no question Adebayo can do it. His 83-point game last season proves that.
It just seems he will have to do that more on a consistent basis for the new-look Heat.
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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of HeatRoundtable. He can be reached at [email protected]
