The Miami Heat are off to a rough start at 3-6, and the conversation around how to steady the season has already turned unusual: could Thanasis Antetokounmpo be the answer?
Thanasis, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s brother, has spent much of the last six seasons around the Milwaukee Bucks, not as a major on-court piece, but as a steady presence on the bench. That role mattered. He was there for a superstar who, according to former Atlanta Hawks All-Star Jeff Teague, benefited from having that kind of support close by.
Teague discussed that dynamic on the Club 520 Podcast, pointing to the value Thanasis brought during the Bucks’ 2020-21 championship run. After the first two games of the NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns, Giannis was averaging 31 points on 63.6 percent shooting, 14.5 rebounds, four assists, 1.5 steals, and two blocks in 37.5 minutes, but Milwaukee was still down 0-2 in the series.
Then Thanasis missed time because of illness protocol. When he returned for the rest of the Finals, Giannis took another step, averaging 37.3 points on 61.1 percent shooting, 12.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, a steal, and a block in 41 minutes over the next four games. Milwaukee rallied to complete the comeback and win the first Larry O’Brien trophy in franchise history since 1971.
That brother connection, at least in that moment, clearly had an effect.
Thanasis is now in Greece and has signed a three-year contract with the Aris Basketball Club. In six games this season, he has averaged 1.7 points on 60 percent shooting, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in 7.5 minutes.
For Miami, the roster math is the first hurdle. The Heat do not currently have a standard roster spot open, though they could create one by waiving Myron Gardner’s non-guaranteed $2.15 million salary. Thanasis also cannot be signed to a two-way contract because he has more than four years of NBA experience.
The season is still young, but the Heat are already searching for something to get them moving.
In Other News...
Heat Suddenly Have A Lineup Debate Fans Never Expected
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Larssons rise has been enough to spark real talk about whether Spoelstra might be tempted to move him into the starting lineup, even if the evidence is still coming from a small sample. For a team trying to stop the slide and rediscover some balance, the idea is less about making a splash than finding a five-man group that can actually stabilize possessions and support the stars more cleanly. The Heat do not need a headline-grabbing fix so much as a workable one, and this is one lineup question they probably did not expect to be asking so soon. [Read more 🡒]
Heat Roster Debate Is Heating Up After Miamis Rough Start
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Davion Mitchell has been one of the more notable risers, a sign that his impact is being noticed even as the bigger picture remains unsettled. For a Heat group still searching for consistency, the ratings debate is less about a video game number than what it says about who is driving the team forward and who still has room to climb. [Read more 🡒]
Heat Slow Start Keeps Pointing To Three Problems Spoelstra Must Fix
The Heats uneven start has left Erik Spoelstra staring at a familiar kind of early-season puzzle: a team that can look organized in stretches, then drift into the same trouble spots that keep showing up on both ends of the floor. At 3-6, Miami has not been able to string together enough consistent offense or defense to settle in, and the numbers point to a few specific areas where the margin for error has been too thin.
Miami has been efficient when it does use pick-and-roll action, but it has not leaned on it often enough, and the spacing around those possessions has not always helped. The other issues are just as obvious, with spot-up jumpers producing too little and opponents finding too much success from three-point range. For a team that expects to tighten up as the season goes on, those are the kinds of problems that can keep a slow start from turning into something more manageable. [Read more 🡒]