Another Giannis Antetokounmpo pursuit begins for the Heat. What can Miami offer?
Another pursuit of Milwaukee Bucks two-time NBA MVP and nine-time All-NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has begun for the Miami Heat.
As expected after Sunday’s NBA Draft Lottery provided clarity on the order of picks for the top half of the first round in this year’s draft, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday that “the Milwaukee Bucks are open for business on trade calls and offers for two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo entering the NBA draft combine and over six weeks away from the draft.”
The Heat was among the teams that aggressively pursued Antetokounmpo in February ahead of the NBA’s trade deadline before the Bucks ultimately opted to hold on to him for the remainder of the season.
According to Charania, the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers were among the other teams that tried to trade for Antetokounmpo at the February trade deadline.
As the Heat again enters the Antetokounmpo trade sweepstakes this offseason, the belief is Antetokounmpo will have a say in where he ends up if he’s dealt because of his contract situation.
The fact that Antetokounmpo is essentially on an expiring contract, with a player option for the 2027-28 season, provides him leverage to force his way to a specific team because of the long-term commitment teams will need from Antetokounmpo to give up the players and draft picks needed to acquire him in a trade.
During a recent podcast with former Heat guard Goran Dragic, Antetokounmpo said: “Hey, Miami is not a bad place, man. Beautiful, beautiful city, beautiful city. Beautiful city, believe it or not, believe it or not.”
Antetokounmpo, 31, becomes eligible to sign a four-year, $275 million contract extension with the Bucks on Oct. 1. But if he’s dealt, he would become eligible for that extension with his new team six months following the trade.
Antetokounmpo is due $58.5 million this upcoming season.
Charania added that the Bucks’ asking price in Antetokounmpo trade talks remains “a young blue-chip talent and/or a surplus of draft picks.”
But the Bucks also aren’t ruling out the possibility of keeping Antetokounmpo and trying to sign him to an extension later this year.
Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam suggested recently that the Bucks would like to make a decision on Antetokounmpo’s future with the organization by the June 23-24 NBA Draft
“I just think before the draft is a natural time,” Haslam said to reporters in Milwaukee. “Because if Giannis does play somewhere else, we’ve got to have a lot of assets. We will do what’s best for Giannis and what’s best for the organization. We don’t know whether Giannis will stay with us or not.”
The Heat would be able to include three first-round picks and multiple pick swaps in a trade offer to the Bucks for Antetokounmpo if a deal is agreed to before the draft.
Technically, the Heat isn’t eligible to trade its 2026 first-round pick (No. 13 overall) because NBA rules prevent teams from being without a first-round selection in two consecutive years (the Heat sent a top-14 protected first-round 2027 pick to the Charlotte Hornets in the Terry Rozier trade). But the Heat could pick a player on behalf of another team at No. 13 in the first round of this year’s draft as part of a prearranged trade.
The Heat would be able to use its first-round selection in this year’s draft to make a pick for the Bucks, and could also include its 2030 and 2032 first-round picks as part of the trade package for Antetokounmpo. NBA teams are only allowed to trade picks up to seven drafts into the future.
The Heat also has young talent on its roster such as Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Pelle Larsson, Kasparas Jakucionis and Nikola Jovic on its roster who it could include in a trade offer to the Bucks for Antetokounmpo.
Simone Fontecchio, Keshad Johnson, Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins aren’t currently eligible to be traded by the Heat even after ending this past season on Miami’s roster. Fontecchio, Johnson and Powell are set to become free agents this offseason, and Wiggins could become a free agent if he bypasses the $30.2 million player option in his contract for next season.
Wiggins would only become eligible to be included in a trade by the Heat if he exercises the player option in his contract to guarantee his $30.2 million salary with the Heat for this upcoming season. Wiggins has until June 29 to decide on his player option.
That leaves Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Jovic, Davion Mitchell, Jaquez, Ware, Jakucionis, Dru Smith, Myron Gardner, Jahmir Young and Larsson as players currently eligible be traded by the Heat. But Heat president Pat Riley made clear during his season-ending news conference last month that he doesn’t plan on trading Adebayo.
“I want to build this around Bam,” Riley said.
So, Riley and the Heat will try to trade for Antetokounmpo or another All-Star talent this offseason to provide Adebayo more support. Adebayo has expressed his frustration over the Heat’s four-year run in the NBA’s play-in tournament, with Miami missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019 this past season and also having just one playoff win during the last three seasons.
“We got a lot of flexibility, so I hope we can help Bam,” Riley continued. “He deserves more help. He just deserves to win more, because he makes such a great effort. So I don’t blame him for being frustrated.”
Whether it’s by adding Antetokounmpo or another top-end player, Riley and the rest of the Heat’s front office know the roster simply needs to get better.
“We’re going to be very aggressive,” Riley said of the offseason ahead. “... I just know we need to make some changes roster wise.”
