Bill Simmons Is Already Backtracking About Giannis, Miami Heat

I’m pretty sure what he initially said about the Heat was for rage bait, because Simmons always seems to flip-flop with his takes.

I've been saying all offseason that Giannis changes the entire way you have to look at this team, and the preseason gave us our first real glimpse of it.

We Finally Saw What Giannis Can Unlock

One part of Simmons' comments really stood out to me the most.

“Giannis just creates open space for guys.”

That's the part that I think gets overlooked when people try to figure out how Giannis fits with Bam Adebayo or whether Miami has enough offense around those two.

Watch what happens when Giannis gets the ball in transition. Defenders aren't worried about staying attached to their man anymore, because everyone is watching the 6-foot-11 guy coming downhill who can get to the rim in about three steps.

That attention creates opportunities everywhere else on the floor.

We already saw Giannis looking to set up his teammates instead of simply trying to score every time he touched the ball. If Miami can get out and run more this season, there will be open threes and easy opportunities simply because of the pressure Giannis puts on a defense.

Miami has spent years grinding through possessions and asking Erik Spoelstra to squeeze offense out of lineups that didn't always have an obvious advantage. Giannis is the advantage now, and the offense runs through him. Sometimes the offense doesn't have to be complicated when you have somebody who forces the defense to react before you've even run anything.

Simmons Is Right About Andrew Wiggins

Simmons also brought up Andrew Wiggins as Miami's swing player, and I actually agree with him there.

“Wiggins is in a nice spot,” Simmons said. “This is the perfect situation for him because Giannis gets all attention, Heat culture, Spoelstra.”

He can defend, run the floor, cut, attack closeouts, and take the open shots that will be there because the defense is worried about Giannis and Bam.

There will be nights when teams basically dare somebody other than Giannis to beat them, and Wiggins has to take advantage of that. If he consistently gives Miami an efficient offense while also taking on difficult defensive assignments, that's a huge win.

This Defense Could Be Ridiculous

The funny thing is Simmons was mostly talking about what Giannis does for Miami offensively, but I'm still just as excited about what this team can become defensively.

Giannis and Bam together already give Spoelstra a defensive combination he's never had before. Then you add Wiggins on the wing, Davion Mitchell at the point of attack, and all the other defensive options Miami can rotate through, and I'm trying to figure out where teams are supposed to find the easy matchup.

Giannis talked at media day about everybody being able to “guard their yard,” and that's what makes these lineups so interesting. Spoelstra doesn't have to protect one or two guys every possession. He can switch things, pressure the ball, get aggressive, and use Giannis and Bam in different ways instead of asking them to constantly cover for everybody else.

Maybe People Needed to Actually See It

There were plenty of questions about the Giannis-Bam fit, Miami's shooting, whether Wiggins could be consistent enough and how Spoelstra was going to make all of this work. Those are fair questions, and one preseason game obviously doesn't answer them all.

We finally got to see the idea instead of just talking about it on paper. Giannis pushed the ball, created for teammates, and drew multiple defenders. Miami had space to operate because of the attention he demanded, and you could already see how much easier things will get when the best player on the floor forces the other team to react to him on every possession.

That's the blueprint for the Miami Heat.