Throughout the past week, rumors have swirled around the league regarding Greek Superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo, an NBA Champion, Finals MVP, and 2 time NBA MVP, has been with the Milwaukee Bucks since 2013. However, over the last year, Antetokounmpo had grown frustrated with the organization, looking for a new home that is not nicknamed “Cream City”. On June 22nd, Giannis Antetokounmpo was dealt to Miami in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis and three first-round picks, including the No. 13 overall pick in this year’s draft Nate Ament. “All of this for one man?” a non-basketball fan may ask. Well, yes.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is a “Freak” to put it in layman's terms. In his last 430 starts with the Bucks, he has averaged 29.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, 6 assists, along with 1 steal & 1 block per game. In this time, he has also won the great Cream City an NBA Championship. He’s hoisted the Larry O’Brian Championship Trophy and truly changes the game when he steps onto the court. But what if there was something else looming under Miami’s masterplan to bring Giannis to the Beaches of South?
Lo and behold Bobby Portis. The missing piece to this blockbuster trade. The Heat acquired Bobby “Bobby P” Portis in addition to Giannis Antetokounmpo and he is seemingly flying under the radar in all forms of media analyzing the trade. After taking a further look into who Bobby Portis is and what he offers a team, the picture Miami was painting is looking more and more clear.
For most of Portis’ career he was looked at as a lanky, off-the-bench, “boring” Power Forward. Many touted Portis’ playstyle as “bland” and “by the book” and that’s exactly what he was. Bobby played a role, and he was good at it. This all changed on November 22nd, 2020 when he signed a two year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks. Portis became a light force for Milwaukee and quite frankly, he looked like an entirely different Bobby Portis on the court. He elevated himself from a role player to a key role playing big during the NBA’s evolutional ‘Small-Ball’ Era.
Portis was truly unstoppable coming off the bench achieving an impressive 11.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists. The most impressive stat of all was his Three Point Percentage. Bobby P finished the 2020-2021 season with the third highest three-point percentage in the NBA at 47.1%. He also finished the season winning an NBA Championship. During the Bucks Finals run against the Phoenix Suns, Portis would put up some very unimpressive statlines overall, but he did finish the series with a +24 in point differential. Bobby Portis would go on to play another 5 seasons in Milwaukee before being dealt in tandem with Antetokounmpo to the Heat. The catch? Over his entire career as a Buck, Portis put up an impressive +290 point differential. That’s more points than two teams typically score combined in an entire game.
This past season, Bobby Portis was once again a solid rotational piece. Bobby Portis averaged 12.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 35 games with Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court. However, with Giannis missing 46 games this past season due to injury, Bobby Portis averaged 15.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in the 32 games he played without Giannis Antetokounmpo. Portis proved he could hold his own without his co-star on the court.
After further examination, Antetokounmpo has averaged 25.2 points, 10.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 420 games without Bobby Portis in his career. With Portis on the floor Giannis averaged 29.6 points, 11.4 rebounds and 6.0 assists over 317 games. Did the Miami Heat find the solution to their woes in Antetokounmpo? Or did they secretly add the juice to unlock the Greek Freak? When Portis shares the court with Antetokounmpo, Giannis scores 4.6 more points. Since acquiring Portis, the Bucks have lost 38 regular season games by 4 points or less. If Bobby Portis can account for helping your team win 38 games next to a superstar player like Antetokounmpo, the league may be in trouble.
Last season, the Miami Heat won 5 games by a margin of 4 points or less. If they won those 5 games they could have boasted an impressive 48-34 record. Not to mention, the 5th overall seed in the Eastern Conference. Nobody is talking about Bobby P in Miami… and maybe they should be. Miami may have a new sheriff in town in Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the deputy they got in Bobby Portis may just be what pushes them over the edge in the East next season.