The Golden State Warriors kept the ball rolling on Thursday night by beating the Miami Heat for their sixth-straight win. It was a big win for a number of reasons, but it had the added benefit of coming against Giannis Antetokounmpo who Golden State saw as a white whale target for a while until he was traded to Miami.
Giannis could have picked practically any team he wanted to be traded to given his situation with the Milwaukee Bucks wasn't working out. Golden State made its desire to add him pretty clear, but by the end of the sweepstakes they weren't even seen as a potential destination.
Perhaps it was more because of the fact the Bucks didn’t think the Warriors would be able to put together an attractive enough package to land Giannis. However, if Antetokounmpo had made it very clear that he wanted to go to Golden State, they probably could have worked something out.
Now, as things currently stand, Giannis is on a Heat team that is 3-6 on the season. It's obviously still very early and there is plenty of time for them to figure things out, but perhaps there is part of Giannis that wishes he had chosen to go to the Warriors instead.
Warriors may be better off for missing out on Giannis
Ironically though, if Giannis had chosen to go to the Warriors, there’s a chance that Golden State wouldn’t be off to the start it’s had. Giannis on the Warriors would mean no Yaxel Lendeborg -- who has already looked great as a rookie -- because the Warriors would have had to trade their first-round pick. It also would likely would have meant no Draymond Green or Jimmy Butler, or Brandin Podziemski for that matter, since either Green or Butler would have been needed to be included in the deal to make it work salary-wise.
So maybe it’s for the best that Giannis didn’t come to the Warriors. Had he come to Golden State, there instantly would have been championship expectations for the 2026-27 season. Part of the reason why the Warriors have had success is because they entered the season with no expectations, and subsequently seem to truly be taking it one game at a time without worrying about the future.
The Warriors seem to have a good thing going and maybe they’ve fully embraced the underdog status they entered this season with. Adding Giannis to the equation would have completely changed things, and while he may wish he’d chosen differently, Golden State is probably perfectly content with how things panned out.
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