Heat beats out Celtics, lands Giannis Antetokounmpo in blockbuster trade with Bucks
The Miami Heat has pursued superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo multiple times in recent years, but has come up empty each time. This time is different.
After a few failed pursuits of Antetokounmpo over a period that spanned more than five years, team president Pat Riley and the Heat finally landed the two-time NBA MVP in a blockbuster trade with the Milwaukee Bucks that was agreed to late Monday night on the eve of the NBA Draft.
The Heat dealt away guard Tyler Herro, center Kel’el Ware, forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., guard Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks and one pick swap and one second-rounder to the Bucks to acquire Antetokounmpo, a league source confirmed to the Miami Herald. The Heat was reluctant to include Jakucionis in the trade, but he may have been the final piece that pushed the deal over the finish line.
The Heat will select a player for the Bucks at No. 13 in the first round of Tuesday night’s NBA Draft, and also trade unprotected first-round picks to the Bucks in 2031 and 2033 as part of the deal. In addition, the Heat agreed to a pick swap with the Bucks in 2030 and sent a 2033 second-rounder to Milwaukee.
Along with adding Antetokounmpo, the Heat also acquired veteran big man Bobby Portis from the Bucks in the deal.
The trade can’t be finalized and made official until the NBA’s free agency moratorium is lifted on July 6 at noon. The Heat and Bucks won’t be able to publicly comment on the trade until it’s made official on July 6.
The Heat was also 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. But faced with the possibility of losing Antetokounmpo for nothing in free agency during the 2027 offseason, the Bucks chose to trade Antetokounmpo this offseason.
The Heat and Boston Celtics were the two finalists in the Giannis sweepstakes, which Miami ultimately won. The Celtics’ offer to the Bucks reportedly included 29-year-old five-time NBA All-Star Jaylen Brown and two first-round picks, but the Bucks opted to take the Heat’s offer made up of a group of young players with upside and more draft capital.
Antetokounmpo is essentially on an expiring contract, with a player option for the 2027-28 season, which provided him leverage to force his way to a specific team because of the long-term commitment teams needed from Antetokounmpo to give up the players and draft picks required to acquire him in a trade.
Antetokounmpo, who is due $58.5 million this upcoming season, will now become eligible to sign a four-year, $275 million contract extension with the Heat six months from when the trade is made official on July 6. The expectation is that Antetokounmpo will make a long-term commitment to the Heat in the form of that extension, which he becomes eligible to sign starting on Jan. 6.
Despite just finishing his 13th NBA season, Antetokounmpo, 31, is still at the top of his game. He averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game while shooting 62.4% from the field and 33.3% from three-point range in 36 appearances this past regular season.
But injuries have been an issue for Antetokounmpo recently, as he played a career-low 36 games last season due in large part to multiple calf strains. He then sustained a hyperextended left knee and bone bruise on March 15 that cut his season short.
When healthy, Antetokounmpo is still considered one of the NBA’s top players. Not only was he named the league’s MVP for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, but he finished in the top four in MVP voting in seven straight seasons before injuries limited him this past season.
Antetokounmpo has also been named to nine All-NBA teams (seven first-team selections and two second-team selections) and five All-NBA Defensive teams (four first-team selections and one second-team selection) during his career. He was also named the NBA’s Most Improved Player for the 2016-17 season and the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for the 2019-20 season.
But the highlight of Antetokounmpo’s career came when he led the Bucks to the NBA championship in 2021, averaging 30.2 points, 12.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.2 blocks per game during that playoff run. He was named the 2021 NBA Finals MVP.
The Bucks drafted Antetokounmpo with the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft as an 18-year-old out of Greece. He has spent his entire NBA career with the Bucks prior to this trade to the Heat.
The addition of the 31-year-old Portis helps bolster the Heat’s frontcourt depth after dealing away Ware. Portis, who is entering his 12th NBA season, averaged 13.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 45.6 percent on 4.4 three-point attempts per game last season with the Bucks.
Portis is due $14.5 million this upcoming season and then has a $15.6 player option for the 2027-28 season.
After trading away Herro, Ware, Jaquez and Jakucionis and adding Antetokounmpo and Portis, the Heat’s roster is at nine players on standard contracts: Bam Adebayo, Antetokounmpo, Davion Mitchell, Nikola Jovic, Portis, Dru Smith (fully nonguaranteed $2.6 million for next season), Pelle Larsson ($2.3 million team option), Myron Gardner ($250,000 of $2.6 million salary guaranteed for next season) and Jahmir Young (fully nonguaranteed $2.4 million for next season).
Andrew Wiggins could become the 10th player to join that list if he exercises the $30.2 million player option in his contract with the Heat that he must decide on by June 29.
The Heat also can add an 11th player to a standard deal for next season with the 41st overall pick in Wednesday’s second round of the draft.
The three players on the Heat’s season-ending 15-man standard roster set to enter free agency this summer are Norman Powell (unrestricted free agent), Simone Fontecchio (unrestricted free agent) and Keshad Johnson (restricted free agent). Wiggins would also become a free agent this offseason if he bypasses his player option this month.
NBA teams can carry up to 15 players on standard contracts during the regular season.
Because the Heat took back more salary than it sent out in the trade for Antetokounmpo, it will be hard-capped at the projected first apron of $209 million for the entirety of next season. The Heat added Portis using the $16.8 million trade exception it got from the Duncan Robinson deal it made last offseason.
The Heat and other NBA teams have been allowed to negotiate with their own impending free agents since June 14 — the day after the last game of the NBA Finals.
After this week’s two-day NBA Draft — first round on Tuesday and second round on Wednesday — free agents can start negotiating with every team in the league on June 30 at 6 p.m. But most free agent signings aren’t eligible to become official until the league’s moratorium is lifted on July 6.
This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 12:01 AM.
