October 3, 2026 · By Marcus · 5 min read
It was only a preseason opener in Quebec City, but the Miami Heat made it feel like an event. The Heat beat the Toronto Raptors 129-105 on Friday night at Videotron Centre, the first of five preseason games, and the headliner delivered: Giannis Antetokounmpo played his first minutes in a Miami uniform.
via Hot Hot Hoops
Camp week, in context
- 129-105 over Toronto. Preseason opener at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, the first of five preseason games.
- Giannis: 9 points on 3-of-3 shooting, 4 rebounds, 7 assists in 14 first-half minutes. Miami put up 76 first-half points on 53.7 percent shooting and 47.8 percent from three, leading by 21 at halftime.
- Klay took $11.5MM over two years (player option, 15 percent trade kicker) after his Dallas buyout to play alongside Bam Adebayo and Giannis.
- The cloud over everything: Giannis holds a $62.8MM player option for next season and says he is unsure about his future in Miami.
The debut
Giannis needed all of 14 minutes to show what the fuss is about. Nine points on perfect shooting, four rebounds and seven assists, all in the first half, and then he was done for the night along with the rest of the starters. The starting five of Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, Davion Mitchell, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins played the first half only, joined by reserves Bobby Portis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Pelle Larsson.
The ball moved like it had somewhere to be. Miami hung 76 points in the first half and shot the lights out doing it. Adebayo added 10 points and 6 rebounds, Wiggins scored 12 on 4-of-6 from deep, Hardaway Jr. poured in 14 on 4-of-4 shooting (3-of-3 from three) and Larsson stuffed the sheet with 13 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Nikola Jovic grabbed 6 rebounds. For Toronto, Scottie Barnes led with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting and Immanuel Quickley added 5.
Preseason caveats apply to all of it. But seven assists in 14 minutes is a real number. Giannis as a hub, with this much shooting around him, is the entire bet Miami just made.
Why Klay came
Before the game, Thompson told Miami radio host Brendan Tobin exactly why he picked the Heat after his Dallas buyout.
"Bam and Giannis — they’re the perfect modern-day bigs. Huge part of the reason I’m here," Thompson said. "You always want to be surrounded by great talent. I’ve been blessed to go through a career of being with great talented teammates and Miami just fits that more than ever."
via Barry Jackson / Miami Herald
He is also happy to be reunited with former Warriors teammate Andrew Wiggins: "It’s a joy to be around Andrew. He’s one of the most low-maintenance All-Stars I’ve ever been around. He’s unflappable."
Read the full story on Thompson’s move here: Klay Thompson chose Miami because of Bam and Giannis.
Jovic's honest admission
The most human moment of camp week belonged to Nikola Jovic. The 23-year-old forward admitted he got complacent after signing his four-year, $62MM+ extension before last season, and his game fell off a cliff: 36.6 percent from the field across 47 appearances.
"I wouldn’t say I was the smartest guy last year handling things outside of the court," Jovic told Tobin.
via Barry Jackson / Miami Herald
Players almost never say that part out loud. The 27th overall pick in 2022 is heading into a prove-it year on a team with real expectations, and owning the bad season publicly is a decent first step.
The betting angle
File the 129-105 under noise. Starters played a half, it is October, and nobody’s rotation means anything yet. The one real signal: Giannis dishing seven assists in 14 minutes. If he is the hub and the shooting holds, Miami’s offense has a ceiling most teams cannot touch.
The market problem is the tax. Big names, big market, viral preseason highlights: the Heat are about to be a public team, and public teams get overpriced. Do not pay full retail on the win total or early-season spreads off one Quebec City blowout. Let the hype build, then look for value when reality sets in: a 36-year-old Klay finding his legs, a 23-year-old Jovic finding himself, and Giannis’s $62.8MM player option hanging over all of it. Giannis himself is not sure how long he is here: "I want to know when this chapter is over, if I’m going to be here for a year or two or whatever it’s going to be, I want to leave my mark" (via Anthony Chiang / Miami Herald).