Q: Aside from Tyler Herro and Kel\u2019el Ware, the Bucks want more young pieces for Giannis Antetokounmpo. If it came down to choosing between Kasparas Jakucionis, Pelle Larsson or Jaime Jaquez Jr., who do the Heat value most? I would keep Kasparas and include one of the other two if they would let me. I really like this rookie\u2019s two-way talent and playmaking. \u2013 Eddie.<\/p>\n
A: What has gotten lost in this equation is that this mostly would not be the Heat\u2019s choice<\/a>. When it comes to a player of Giannis Antetokounmpo\u2019s stature, it is the team trading out the superstar that can determine who and how much. Obviously different teams value different players in different ways. So it would mostly come down to the Bucks\u2019 evaluation of the Heat\u2019s talent, should Milwaukee choose to move in such a direction. Assuming Kel\u2019el Ware would be the Heat\u2019s centerpiece<\/a> of youth that is offered, it would be a difficult choice for the Heat beyond, only because Jaime Jaquez Jr. becomes extension eligible in the offseason, which opens the debate to future valuation. But if you are asking whether Jaime, Pelle Larsson or Kasparas Jakucionis would be deal killers from a Heat perspective when it comes to Giannis, then highly doubt it. All likely would\/could be sent out, need be. In fact, this also could be the opportunity for the Bucks to offload some bad salary, as well, while taking in youthful, cheaper replacements.<\/p>\n Q: Ira, it\u2019s hard for me to comprehend why teams now covet draft picks over proven, experienced players, since drafting 19-year-old college kids is so hit-or-miss. Back in the day, Pat Riley used to just throw in draft picks as trade fillers. Now in our pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo, we may have the best player package but could miss out because we may not have as many draft picks as another team. It makes absolutely no sense to me. \u2013 Greg, Jacksonville.<\/p>\n A: The intrigue is the mystery of the unknown. Once a player is drafted, you begin to appreciate his ultimate upside. When a pick has yet to be exercised, there is the abstract of getting the next great thing. As in so many walks of life, hope tends to trump reality. In addition, by acquiring distant first-round picks, they then can be packaged in the future. Plus, players come with salaries attacked, often high salaries. Draft picks that have yet to have been exercised have no impact on a team\u2019s current salary cap or tax. So there is that, as well.<\/p>\n Q: So, this year\u2019s key word used by Erik Spoelstra is \u201cstack.\u201d Kel\u2019el Ware needs to stack more good days together. Orlando stacked too many paint points. Dru Smith said in an interview that the team needed to stack wins together. \u201cStack\u201d goes with \u201cstick with the process\u201d and \u201cplay to our identity.\u201d Whatever that means. \u2013 David, Fort Lauderdale.<\/p>\n A: Sometimes you just have to stack the cliches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Q: Aside from Tyler Herro and Kel\u2019el Ware, the Bucks want more young pieces for Giannis Antetokounmpo. If…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3778],"tags":[3879,7,144,165,295,189,3880,3881,6,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-579599","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-heat","8":"tag-ask-ira","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-heat","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-miami","13":"tag-miami-heat","14":"tag-miami-heat-blog","15":"tag-miamiheat","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116007013163725276","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}