Criticized in recent years for a failure to attract stars, Riley silenced doubters by successfully landing Antetokounmpo. While the longtime front-office executive has extensive work to do in filling out the Heat’s roster, the 10-time All-Star and center Bam Adebayo are a promising foundation. Over the past four seasons, Antetokounmpo has averaged 30.2 points, 11.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game, while Adebayo averaged 20.1 points and 10 rebounds per game — his first 20-10 season — last year. Perhaps more importantly, the deal shows Riley still has it.
Loser: The Boston Celtics-Jaylen Brown relationship
Well, this is awkward. After dangling shooting guard Jaylen Brown in trade talks, it’s unclear what’s next for the star who carried Boston last season as Jayson Tatum rehabbed from a torn Achilles. Can the Celtics mend a potentially fractured relationship, or do they explore other potential trades? After aggressively pursuing Antetokounmpo, running things back would seem like a mistake, but Boston can’t just accept any deal. Without another player of Antetokounmpo’s caliber available, any other offseason addition will be a disappointment.
A Celtics squad coming off a 56-26 season with Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum would have had the potential to quickly challenge the Knicks for Eastern Conference supremacy. A 10th-place Heat team with the 2021 Finals MVP and Adebayo is further from that level. Miami will certainly be better, but it took coach Erik Spoelstra a season to turn LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh into a championship trio. That could help the Knicks remain atop the East in 2027.
Loser: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Welcome to Milwaukee South. After years of being the alpha on the Bucks, Antetokounmpo will once again be forced to carry the load in Miami. Adebayo is certainly a quality running mate — the duo could be a dominant defensive pair — but in the league’s tier of stars, he’s also well below Tatum. In Boston, Antetokounmpo would have been inserted into a championship foundation. In Miami, however, he’ll need to build it from the ground up as he did with the Bucks. His jersey may change, but Antetokounmpo’s workload will remain the same.
Winner: Hugo Gonzalez
Find someone that loves you as much as the Celtics love Gonzalez. Per reports, the 2025 rookie was a major sticking point in negotiations, with insider Marc Stein corroborating The Ringer’s Bill Simmons’ point from earlier in the day that Boston was reluctant to include him in the deal.
“The Celtics, as Bill says, certainly prefer to keep him,” Stein wrote, adding it wasn’t “exactly a make-or-break element but one of the variables that factors into this Boston vs. Miami struggle.”