The Miami Heat have a strong chance to trade for Giannis Antetokoumpo based on both the package it can offer and the two-time MVP’s preferences.
One gauge any NBA team must consider when dealing for a superstar is whether it has to surrender so much in order to acquire said player that the franchise can’t meaningfully compete in the short-term or intermediate futures.
In a proposal authored by Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report on Tuesday, June 2, the Heat would forfeit a haul of young assets for Antetokounmpo, but still keep their best current player in Bam Adebayo.
“The Heat can craft an offer around All-Star (and Wisconsin native) Tyler Herro, potential unicorn big man Kel’el Ware, additional young talent (Jaime Jaquez Jr., Pelle Larsson, Kasparas Jakucionis, Nikola Jovic) and significant draft capital (including this year’s No. 13 pick),” Buckley wrote.
Heat Emerge as Favorites to Acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo
GettyGiannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.
A couple of reports came out Tuesday that put the Heat in the driver’s seat with regards to Antetokounmpo.
“The Miami Heat are the team I am pinpointing for Giannis Antetokounmpo,” Jake Fischer of The Stein Line wrote, per Fullcourtpass.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson also reported that Miami is the only team Antetokounmpo will consider signing with longterm.
The Milwaukee Bucks center has more leverage in this regard now than if the team had traded him ahead of the mid-season deadline in February.
That is because while Antetokounmpo has two years remaining on his $175 million-plus contract, the 2027-28 campaign is a player option. Thus, he can opt out of his deal and enter unrestricted free agency next summer. This allows Antetokounmpo a measure of control over where he goes because he can threaten any undesirable suitor with losing him after just one year.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Would Be Heat’s Biggest Addition Since Signing LeBron James in 2010
GettyLeBron James.
Antetokounmpo is the type of big-name superstar the Heat have sought ever since the departure of LeBron James and the dismantling of the Big 3 (Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh) in 2014.
Miami landed Jimmy Butler in 2019 and earned three trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in four years along with two NBA Finals appearances, though zero titles.
Adding Antetokounmpo would be closer to the league-shifting move that Pat Riley executed when acquiring James in free agency in 2010. He was the reigning two-time MVP at the time and was just 26 years old. Famously, James led the Heat to four straight NBA Finals, capturing two rings and two more MVPs along the way before heading back to Cleveland.
Antetokounmpo is also a two-time MVP, though he has not won the award since 2020. He did, however, finish third or fourth in MVP voting in each of the following five years, failing to factor into the race only last season for the first time in a decade.
The former Defensive Player of the Year will play next season at 32 years old and has battled injury issues of late. Health concerns sidelined him for all but 36 contests in 2025-26, while injuries have cut short multiple postseasons for Antetokounmpo in recent years.
All that said, he averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists last season and remains an MVP-caliber player when healthy.
Should the Heat trade for Antetokounmpo, they could put perhaps the best front-court tandem in the NBA on the floor. That will be an important factor for years to come given the meteoric rise of center Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, who host Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.
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