Q: You know what, Ira? Good. Better to have Bradley Beal take more of the Clippers’ money than delusional Heat fans think he was going to be our answer. Let’s move on. – Chris.
A: And the Heat will, likely without much in the way of remorse. For a team with only $10 million in spending power left under their hard cap, anything above the minimum on Bradley Beal would have been an overspend. From the start, Beal opting out of his $5.6 million 2026-27 player option with the Clippers seemed a bit fishy. And then the Clippers step up with two years at $13.2 million? No one handles math accounting quite like the Clippers, it seems. You can portray this, should you choose, as one that got away from the Heat. But the only way that truly would have been the case would have been if Beal took the minimum elsewhere. He didn’t, settling for the Clippers’ murky immediate future . . . and the money. So you move on.
Q: Ira, it’s the same ole same ole. We hear all these potential names, and none come here anymore. Giannis took 30 years of rumors. We’re cooked. – Dan.
A: Please, everyone, stop. The Miami Heat found a way to land Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason and now some are going to complain that the Heat didn’t also land Bradley Beal? Bradley “Six Games in 2025-26” Beal? This has been one of the best offseasons in franchise history. Now, might the bill come due down the road? Such are the risks of parting with young prospects and picks. But the future can be a murky equation. Having Giannis Antetokounmpo on your roster is a win with a capital W. So let’s not continue this negative narrative in case the Heat don’t get Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan or Nick Richards. Actually, the typical recent Heat offseason would have been getting Thompson, DeRozan and Beal and not getting Giannis Antetokounmpo. You know what? Opa! Savor this summer.
Q: Shouldn’t the Heat’s first game against the Bucks have been in Milwaukee? Now Giannis Antetokounmpo will have played the Bucks before his anticlimactic return. – Steve.
A: Agree, but such is the result when you leave such scheduling matters in the entirely unemotional control of computers and AI. There still will be ample emotional buildup for the Heat’s Jan. 28 game in Milwaukee, especially with the Heat idle the previous two days. So expect plenty of Giannis around town during that timeframe. But that also will be two months after the Bucks play in Miami, when Giannis will be in opposing colors for the first time in his career.