Former NBA center Brendan Haywood thinks the Miami Heat are dealing with many of the same offensive problems Giannis Antetokounmpo experienced with the Milwaukee Bucks, questioning whether Miami’s current roster can succeed.
Haywood pointed to the pairing of Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo as a major concern, arguing that the two big men have struggled to complement each other offensively.
“The Miami Heat have a problem. Their two bigs don’t necessarily play well together. The spacing is bad. They don’t play off of each other well. And more importantly, the last five to 10 minutes when that game slows down, they don’t have a guard that can go get it. I love Davion Mitchell, but they need somebody that can create elite offense.”
Haywood also questioned Miami’s roster construction, explaining that successful championship teams typically feature a combination of guards, wings and big men rather than relying on two frontcourt players.
“When you look at tandems that win championships, it’s not the double big tandem. It’s normally point guard, big man. Wing player, big man. Wing player, point guard. But it’s never two bigs. There’s a reason for that. So the Miami Heat have built a roster right now that, quite frankly, isn’t sustainable as far as wins goes in today’s NBA.”
The former NBA champion went further by comparing Miami to Milwaukee, suggesting that Antetokounmpo continues to dominate the ball while his teammates have limited involvement in the offense.
“When I look at the Miami Heat, they look like the South Beach Bucks. Giannis could have just stayed in Milwaukee for this because I’m seeing a lot of the same thing. Giannis dominating the ball. Teammates watching him. Dribble, dribble, dribble. ‘Hey, I go down the lane.’ He’s dominating the rock. The spacing is bad, and it’s not really working right now. And I don’t know what Erik Spoelstra is going to do to fix it.”
