Tim Legler gives the truth about the Miami Heat’s Giannis Antetokounmpo trade

Ever since the Miami Heat made the trade to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Heat have dominated the sports talk world. You would find it difficult to find any NBA talking head that has not given their thoughts on the deal and Tim Legler has now joined the discussion.

Legler is one of my favorite analysist because he sticks almost exclusively to actual basketball. He does not filter his opinions through bias or narratives. He is there to educate about the game we all find beautiful.

Legler speaks his mind and will push back on media narratives, and he did just that went discussing the Antetokounmpo trade. Legler pushes back on 2 main narratives that have been floating around.

Heat gave up too much?

The first narrative is that the Heat ended up giving up too much to complete the trade. This is a funny narrative that is being shopped around because the very same people saying this were also the ones saying the Heat did not have enough to give up. This narrative was always rooted in bias and never in reality.

In my opinion Legler correctly points out that the Heat simply gave up what is needed to get a player of Antetokounmpo’s level. Miami’s package included an All-Star, 6MOY runner up, a young center with an absurd amount of talent, a young PG with dazzling passing ability, and draft capital. That does sound like a lot, and it is. That is just what it takes to get a player that has won 2 MVPs, a DPOY, a championship and Finals MVP.

Ironically if the Heat were not willing to part with everything they gave up, the same people that said it is too much would be saying no one wants what Miami has to offer.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is not worth it?

The other notion that Legler pushes back on is one I keep hearing on social media, that Antetokounmpo is not worth it. I will make this clear and direct, Giannis Antetokounmpo is worth everything and more that the Heat gave up.

Players of Antetokounmpo’s caliber do not come around often. He is one of the greatest players ever to be available for trade. He is one of the few players in the league that if he is on your team then you always feel there is a chance to be the last one standing. Every team should jump at a player of his greatness.

Antetokounmpo also quietly had one of the best offensive seasons ever last year. His team disappointed but he as an individual did not. His team was also about 10 percentage points better in win percentage in games he played than games he did not. No matter how you want to look at it Antetokounmpo is still one of the leagues best players.

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