Ira Winderman: Goran Dragic draws needed Heat-Giannis link, as the pursuit resumes

Three years ago, Damian Lillard could not have been more direct in his desire to relocate from Portland to Miami, an approach that backfired and had him, in a touch of irony, landing in Milwaukee alongside Giannis.

This time, the Antetokounmpo situation is playing out as a passion play of passive aggression. He loves Milwaukee, but freely mentions Miami.

Then again 11 months ago, asked in a Q&A on X for his, “favorite road city to play,” Giannis answered “New York.” And, no, he was not a Knick this past season.

Still, during an exit interview for the season with Milwaukee media, Antetokounmpo was asked if he perhaps had played his final game with the Bucks.

“That’s a very good question,” he told reporters. “I don’t know. It’s not up to me anymore. It’s not up to me. We’ll see.”

But it is. With a player option for 2027-28, the coming season could be the last on his current contract under Bucks control. If an extension can’t be reached, the Bucks would be in the type of corner never experienced by the Trail Blazers with Lillard and his locked-in long-term deal.

In February, the Heat’s bid was on play until the 11th hour at the trade deadline. Now it could come down to these early stages of the postseason, if a playoff favorite comes up short, decides to join the pursuit.

“You want to win, everybody wants to win, so you gotta make the best decision for yourself,” Antetokounmpo told Dragic.

And then there are the Heat, a team that finished No. 10 in the East, one spot ahead of Giannis’ Bucks, the Heat postseason lasting one game longer than the lottery Bucks.

The May 10 lottery could go a long way toward deciphering the coded messaging. If the Bucks, the No. 10 lottery seed, move into a top-four pick, it could leave Milwaukee more appealing to Giannis, or it could give the Bucks a trade chip to get Giannis a quality sidekick, as the Cleveland Cavaliers did in 2014, when they turned No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins into Kevin Love.

If the Heat, the No. 13 lottery seed, luck into a top-four pick, it would boost a trade package (the preference here, in that unlikelihood, would be to keep the pick and start building a new future).

But what can’t happen is for the Summer of Giannis turning into the Heat’s 2023 Summer of Lillard, when resolution (much to the Heat’s consternation) did not come until Sept. 27, on the eve of training camp.

Agent G did his job, receiving the Miami seal of approval from Giannis.

Next up will be the early rounds of the playoffs determining the potential degree of pursuit elsewhere.

Then the ping-pong balls will take center stage at the lottery.

But it again feels like the wheels are in motion.

What the Heat can’t allow/afford is this to become an endurance race.