Pat Riley spent years hoping to repeat this – building two championship teams with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, then two more Finals runs with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. The pattern has always been the same in Miami: get the superstar first, figure the roster out after. Brian Windhorst asserted that the second part of that plan is about to be tested in ways the betting markets aren’t yet pricing in, despite the blockbuster acquisition of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
DraftKings reportedly now lists the Heat with the third-shortest odds to win the East next season, trailing only the Celtics and the reigning champion Knicks. Windhorst, on Tuesday, on ESPN’s Get Up, pushed back on the ranking.
“They don’t have a team yet,” he said, h/t Heat Central. “They’re gonna have to build out. You need shooting in this day and age. They don’t really have that.” His concern wasn’t about the star power Miami just acquired; instead, it was about everything still missing around it.
The trade itself was massive. The Bucks sent Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to Miami in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks, a pick swap and a second-round selection. The deal leaves Antetokounmpo with a $58.5 million cap hit for 2026-27, with a $62.8 million player option for the following season, and that financial position is precisely what Windhorst identified as the next problem Miami has to solve.
Windhorst on specific roster gaps that remain. “They have to make sure Wiggins is in the fold,” he said. “Wiggins could now be plucked elsewhere, but I do think he’ll stay there. But they’re gonna lose their All-Star, Norm Powell. Norm Powell was their All-Star. Unless he takes a crazy discount, he’s gonna be gone. They have to replace him.”
With the trade sending Herro – Miami’s leading scorer and primary shot-creator – to Milwaukee in the deal, the Heat’s offensive engine outside of Antetokounmpo and Adebayo is largely unresolved heading into free agency. Replacing both Powell’s scoring and Herro’s shot creation, while also retaining Wiggins, is in their to-do list, and Miami’s draft-pick store is now considerably empty after they surrendered three first-rounders to get the deal done.
Powell enters the offseason as one of the most attractive veteran scorers available. Reports and projections suggest that he could command a contract of around three years and roughly $65 million. The Miami Heat holds his Bird Rights, which gives them a major advantage because they can exceed the salary cap to re-sign him. However, rival teams are monitoring the situation, particularly contenders that need perimeter scoring.
Despite the concerns, Windhorst wasn’t writing the Heat off – he just adjusted his timeline. “Andy Elisburg, their general manager, is superior at his job. Erik Spoelstra, their development staff. I’m betting on the Heat, just not in ’26-’27.” The Heat now pair Antetokounmpo with Adebayo to form what projects as one of the most formidable defensive frontcourts in the league. That’s the foundation Windhorst believed the Heat front office alongside its coaching staff can build around, just not instantly.
Antetokounmpo is reportedly expected to receive assurances that this isn’t a short-term arrangement. He will become eligible on Jan. 6, 2027, to sign a four-year, $275 million supermax extension if he opts out, or a three-year, $214 million deal if he opts in, meaning the Miami Heat has the runway to build the right roster around him over time.
Getting the two-time MVP was the easy part. The shooting, the depth, and the Norm Powell replacement are the harder problems – and according to him, those get solved, just not immediately.
