In wake of ESPN report, does Heat have enough to get involved in potential Giannis sweepstakes?
Just a few days after Miami Heat president Pat Riley made it clear that Heat roster changes are needed this offseason, ESPN reported Monday morning that Milwaukee Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo may also be ready for some change.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA MVP and nine-time NBA All-Star, “is open-minded about exploring whether his best long-term fit is remaining in Milwaukee or playing elsewhere” for the first time in his career. But Charania added that Antetokounmpo has not yet made any firm decisions on his Bucks future after Milwaukee was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight season.
Antetokounmpo, who has spent the first 12 seasons of his NBA career with the Bucks, is still in his prime. He averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 60.1 percent from the field this season, establishing himself as one of the three finalists for this season’s NBA Most Valuable Player award.
So it’s not surprising that Antetokounmpo’s potential availability this offseason is something that all 29 teams outside of Milwaukee are expected to be monitoring, including the Heat.
Antetokounmpo, 30, is due $54.1 million this upcoming season and remains under contract through the 2026-27 season. He also has a $62.8 million player option for the 2027-28 season.
“The Bucks and Antetokounmpo’s representatives, Giorgios Panou and Alex Saratsis, are expected to sit down during the offseason to discuss the future, sources said,” according to ESPN’s report on Monday.
What is the most the Heat can offer for Antetokounmpo if he asks for a trade in the coming weeks?
The Bucks will likely start by asking for Heat three-time All-Star center Bam Adebayo in any potential such trade discussions, which could be problematic because he has become the Heat’s face of the franchise and shares an agent with Antetokounmpo in Saratsis. Also, part of Antetokounmpo’s potential interest in joining the Heat would likely stem from an interest in playing alongside Adebayo and not being traded for him.
Even if the Heat makes its entire roster available in a potential trade for Antetokounmpo, Miami still may not have enough tradeable draft picks to get such a deal done.
The Heat entered this offseason with the ability to trade only two first-round picks (the Golden State Warriors’ 2025 pick at No. 20 overall and either its 2030 or 2031 pick) ahead of the June draft. NBA teams are only allowed to trade picks up to seven drafts into the future and league rules prohibit teams from being without future first-round picks in consecutive years.
But by agreeing to a trade before the June 25 NBA Draft, the Heat could find a way to include three first-round picks in a deal.
How? By agreeing to a trade before draft night, the Heat can use the Warriors’ pick to select a player who another team asks Miami to select. There would then be an understanding that the player drafted at No. 20 in June will be sent along with the 2030 and 2032 first-round picks in the days following the draft.
This works because the Heat’s 2032 first-round selection becomes eligible to be traded immediately after the June draft since it would then be within the seven drafts into the future that are needed to be included in a deal.
There’s also a way for the Heat to even unlock four first-round picks to throw in a trade this offseason, but it would require Miami enticing the Charlotte Hornets with other picks and/or players to retrieve its 2027 first-round pick that it sent to Charlotte in the Terry Rozier trade.
By getting its 2027 first-round pick back, the Heat would then be able to select a player for another team at No 20 this year and would also be able to offer first-round picks in 2026, 2028 and 2030 in a trade that would not be able to become official until after draft night.
The problem is that might not even be enough to acquire an All-NBA talent like Antetokounmpo, who is sure to draw some level of interest from nearly every team in the league if he becomes available on the trade market.
That’s because other teams have more tradeable draft picks than the Heat. Entering this offseason, the Oklahoma City Thunder have 10 tradeable first-round picks, the Brooklyn Nets have nine tradeable first-round picks, the Utah Jazz has seven tradeable first-round picks and the Houston Rockets have five tradeable first-round picks.
Antetokounmpo has stated repeatedly that winning a second NBA championship is a priority for him.
“Players aren’t just going to show up,” Riley said last week during his season-ending news conference just minutes after saying Heat roster changes are needed this summer. “You have to make deals, you have to look at the board. You got to try to do something that’s going to benefit something with your team and your two key guys [Adebayo and Tyler Herro], if they’re your key guys and I think they are plus a lot of other players.
“So I think we’re probably in as good a situation as we could have ever been from a draft pick, young player, favorable contract situation in a long time. Especially at a time in the market that’s hard to plan because things will be spontaneous. But we’re going to work on trying to really, really find something that will help this team.”
But for the Heat to have a real chance at acquiring Antetokounmpo if he becomes available this offseason, it could come down to Antetokounmpo making the Heat his preferred trade destination. But even that might not be enough because the Bucks still have the right to make the deal they feel is best for their franchise, similar to how the Portland Trail Blazers-Damian Lillard trade saga played out during the 2023 offseason.
This story was originally published May 12, 2025 at 11:03 AM.
