It’s been known ever since the February NBA trade deadline that it was only a matter of time for Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors to resurface again.
The Bucks gauged the market on Antetokounmpo at that deadline, which included engaging with the Miami Heat on a potential deal. Ultimately, they decided to hold off for a little bit longer and hope to get a better haul once team’s were able to trade more draft capital. Fast forward to today and now Milwaukee is officially fielding calls and offers for the second time within the past three months, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania:
The Milwaukee Bucks are open for business on trade calls and offers for two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo entering the NBA combine and over six weeks away from the draft, sources told ESPN.
(via Shams Charania)
This was widely expected. And of course, Miami will be one of the premier Giannis landing spots lined up to pounce.
The Heat have targeted Antetokounmpo as their next whale for years now, dating even all the way back six years ago to 2020. They got significantly close to pulling it off at the deadline, and now they will have one more chance. For several Heat targets over the years, even including the last superstar acquisition in Jimmy Butler in 2019, Pat Riley and the front office have repeatedly circled back on names that they once swung and miss on. Another attempt at Giannis will be no different.
A long overdue Giannis blockbuster could happen as soon as by June’s NBA Draft.
On a recent episode of the Pat McAfee Show, Charania spoke more on what the landscape and trade timeline looks like for the Bucks’ superstar.
Additionally, analyst and former NBA alum Jay Williams stated he’s heard a lot of noise with Miami and the Golden State Warriors on the Giannis trade front at Sunday’s draft lottery. “I was at the draft yesterday, and there was a whole lot of Giannis conversations with Miami and Golden State,” Williams said on ESPN First Take.
Milwaukee’s asking price for Antetokounmpo appears to be the same as it was at the deadline. They are reportedly still looking for “young blue chip talent” and/or a “surplus of draft picks” in a deal. Salary filler will also be needed to finish any package. The Heat offered a haul centered on Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, other young players and multiple draft picks and pick swaps in February— an offer that the Bucks “seriously considered” according to Charania.
Talks between Miami and Milwaukee will likely pick up from there, with access to even more draft capital now a possibility for the Heat.
Giannis has been on Miami’s radar for far too long. It appears that this may be now or never for Riley to secure this long anticipated franchise altering target.
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Déjà vu all over again. Not much could be worse than hearing all the ways the Bucks and Giannis play with our heads. And there are some factors working against us. The biggest is there are a lot of teams that will want him so the price will still be very high, despite his injury. And that price will be in players and picks, potentially weakening us in certain areas and taking away our already limited draft picks. And also, Giannis and the team will have some say where he goes and it seems likely Giannis will choose a team closer to a championship than us. So, for me, wake me up when it’s over as I’ve been there and done that with this set up.
It’s why I particularly don’t want to see them linger on the issue à la Lillard. Make the best offer. If they agree, fine. If not, please move on.
Here we go again.
A good thing is that the whole thing will be finished in a month and a half.
Maybe…maybe not. So many trade variables and so many different players.
Makes sense for both Bucks and Giannis. He needs the summer to move his big family.
Giannis is at the lowest point of trade value almost since he entered the league, good time for another team to make a trade.
Milwaukee should have traded Giannis last offseason when he was coming off a season being 3rd in MVP voting and playing 67 games, and still had two years left on his contract. That was reportedly around when he asked for a trade and when the Shams reports that he was open to a trade came out. The return then would almost definitely have been much higher vs now, when Giannis is on an expiring contract and after a season of 36 games played.
Now a year later Giannis is being compared to Jaylen Brown, who is coming off his best season but is nowhere even close to Giannis in impact. Last offseason Brown had just averaged 22 ppg and was an All-Star but there were articles about him having one of the worst contracts in the NBA. This year he averaged 29 ppg but the team was almost 5 points worse with him on the court vs off. Compared to the last two years with Giannis, Milwaukee was +11 and +14 with him on the court vs off.
please stop stat man u take brown off celts this year they win25 games.he should be the mvp.theres only 2 guys id take over greek joker wemby
Why would Brown be the most valuable player when Boston was -4.6 with him on the court vs off? Compare that to Luka (+4.8), SGA (+12) Jokic (+13), Wemby (+17). Brown himself said the numbers did not justify him being MVP
Proposed Miami trades I’ve seen:
Miami Heat Receives: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks Receive: Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and potentially the 2030 and 2032 first-round picks, along with draft pick swaps in 2026, 2029, and 2031.
Miami Heat Receives: Donovan Mitchell
Cleveland Cavaliers Receive: Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, the No. 13 pick, and a 2032 first-round pick
Miami Heat Receives: Kevin Durant
Houston Receives: Andrew Wiggins ( if he opts in), Jaime Jaquez Jr., and draft picks.,
Miami Heat Receives: Kevin Durant
Houston Rockets Receive: Tyler Herro, Nikola Jović and first round 2026 pick
Miami Heat Receives: Kawhi Leonard ($50.3M for 2026-27), Derrick Jones Jr., Yanic Konan Niederhauser.
Los Angeles Clippers Receive: Andrew Wiggins (Player Option), Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., 2029 1st Round Pick.
Miami Heat Receives: Zion Williamson (Pelicans):
New Orleans Receives: Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell, and protected 2026/2030 first-round picks.
Sacramento Kings Receive: Tyler Herro
Miami Heat Receives: DeMar DeRozan, Devin Carter, Nique Clifford, 2031 first-round pick (top-8 protected)
Toronto Raptors Receive: Tyler Herro
Miami Heat Receives: RJ Barrett, 2030 second-round pick (via Raptors)
Atlanta Hawks Receive: Tyler Herro
Miami Heat Receive: C.J. McCollum (sign-and-trade), Corey Kispert, 2029 first-round pick (top-10 protected)
Brooklyn Nets Receive: Tyler Herro
Miami Heat Receive: Terance Mann, Drake Powell, 2027 first-round pick (via Knicks, unprotected)
Milwaukee Bucks Receive: Tyler Herro
Miami Heat Receive: Kyle Kuzma, Bobby Portis, 2031 first-round pick (top-8 protected)
Detroit Pistons Receive: Tyler Herro
Miami Heat Receive: Isaiah Stewart, Ron Holland II, Marcus Sasser, 2029 first-round pick (top-10 protected)
first time ive seen that Herro-Barrett exchange. intriguing and i guess i like it. ima gonna call Pat and co for that. good to arguably great front court of Ware, Adebayo, Barrett combo. i like the trade ideas that does not include Ware. i feel like Heat have still a lot to unlock with the 7 footer. good things to unlock i hope.
A LOT to digest there, so here goes. I was going to rate each yes, no, maybe, but that might generate too many ‘are you crazy?’ comments. So I will just pick my favorites.
yes on DeRozan, Carter, Clifford and pick.
yes on RJ Barrett and pick.
Yes on CJ, pick. Kispert is a throw in.
yes on Kuzma, Portis and pick
Yes on Stewart, Holland, Sasser , and a pick. Definitely my favorite. Would they really do that? Probably not.
RC, are you crazy? I suppose so.
I agree. There are quite a few interesting options, some involving draft picks coming to Miami.
Yes. I am tired of seeing so many trade proposals where Miami is sending out picks in the trades. I would maybe give a second rounder for Ja, but absolutely not a first for example. As you said, they should give us a pick. He’s damaged goods with an attitude problem and his contract is an albatross for a team that’s looking for a fresh start. They have picks 3, 16, and 32 which will give them a nice jump into the next iteration. Plus, if they traded with us, they would also likely add 2 of Herro, Wiggins, Mitchell, Jaquez. Not a bad reboot.
Plus our 2016 pick.
?
thats an awesome lebron post.as long as theres new guys on this stale roster im good for better or worse hopefully better.greek kawhi ja who are all attainable be my first 3.first to go would be mr zerro d.
Miami will have considerable competition for Giannis…starting with Boston and ending who knows where. See following excerpts:
No-brainer Giannis-to-Celtics trade package is too good for Bucks to refuse
Story by Cal Durrett, Hoops Habit
It appears that the Milwaukee Bucks will soon decide whether to trade star Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Boston Celtics could potentially emerge as a top trade candidate.
The Bucks should certainly hope that the Celtics are willing to trade Brown. In doing so, they could thrust themselves into the Giannis sweepstakes and drive up the price for Milwaukee’s best player.
That could force other teams to up their offers and even the Celtics to do the same. If they were to offer Brown and at least two first-round picks for Giannis, it seems unlikely that Milwaukee would say no to that deal.
No-brainer Giannis Antetokounmpo trade for Bucks to refuse
After all, Brown is 29 years old and under contract for the next three seasons. While he isn’t as good as Giannis, he was an MVP candidate this season and a former NBA Finals MVP.
If Milwaukee doesn’t like the idea of rebuilding, trading for a star under contract for several years would keep them from having to do so. They would still have to retool around Brown.
Nevertheless, they would also be getting at least a couple of first-round picks for their trouble in a potential trade. If they can get that kind of value for Giannis, then the Bucks should absolutely take it.
Bucks would be crazy to accept Heat’s latest Giannis trade scenarioNot all trade proposals are worth considering.
By Franco Luna (Behind The Buck Pass)
Bleacher Report just floated a Heat trade package for Giannis that’s so insulting it should’ve been laughed out of the room before anyone took it seriously. Only three first-round picks in a possible trade framework for a two-time MVP? Really?
Specifically, Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus proposed this deal landing Giannis in South Beach: the Milwaukee Bucks receive Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Nikola Jović, 2026 first-rounder, 2030 first-rounder, 2032 protected first-rounder, 2033 second-rounder, and a $4.6 million trade exception in a scenario favoring Miami.
The Bucks should be insulted by proposed Miami Heat tradeLet’s get one thing straight as we head into what is sure to be a busy offseason. Milwaukee doesn’t have to take a bad deal just because Giannis reportedly likes the Heat.
Three first-round picks for Giannis Antetokounmpo is a joke. That’s not even close to fair value for someone of his caliber, even accounting for age and injury concerns. The Bucks need either a blue-chip young prospect to help jumpstart a rebuilding process ASAP or a massive haul that actually reflects trading a generational talent.
Miami’s picks aren’t even that valuable either. The Heat are perpetually competitive, which means those firsts are going to be in the 20s at best. That’s not the kind of draft capital that rebuilds franchises. That’s what you offer for role player upgrades, not superstars.
If this is genuinely Miami’s opening offer, Milwaukee should hang up immediately and focus on teams making serious proposals. There are other teams that can offer actual assets worth building around, not three mid-round picks years from now.
The Heat are banking on Giannis’ reported preference for Miami giving them leverage to underpay. But that only works if Milwaukee’s desperate enough to accept below-market value just to make their franchise player happy. After everything the Bucks have done for Giannis — the trades, the contracts, the family employment — they don’t owe him a sweetheart deal to his preferred destination.
It’s no secret that Giannis has always had Miami on his wish list. With their warchest, the Heat certainly have the flexibility to construct a competitive offer without mortgaging their entire future, and that’s on top of the organizational credibility that makes them attractive to superstars. But that doesn’t mean any offer they make will automatically go through.
The Bucks need to go for the throat in any Giannis tradeMilwaukee needs to set the market rate high and stick to it. If Miami can’t beat what Minnesota or Cleveland are offering, they’re out. Simple as that. Giannis’ preference for South Beach doesn’t entitle the Heat to bargain-basement pricing on a two-time MVP.
The Bucks would be crazy to accept this framework. Absolutely crazy. Three first-round picks is what you offer for Jerami Grant, not Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Miami needs to come back with a real offer or stop wasting everyone’s time. Milwaukee’s not giving away their franchise player just because Pat Riley thinks his reputation still commands discounts.
Sorry, Franco. Giannis is not a spring chicken anymore and is up for a big contract. Feel free to accept Portland’s offer. I’m sure Giannis will jump at the chance to go there. lol
Franco Looney
Pat Riley
Five NBA teams have been named the top trade destinations for Giannis. These five teams all tried to trade for him earlier this season:
The question, of course, is where does Giannis want to go?
The Eric Pincus article from bleacher report is worth reading, explains how Milwaukee is facing a “ticking clock” due to Giannis now being in the last year of his contract. If they don’t trade him and he doesn’t sign an extension they can lose him for nothing in free agency next year. They also just hired Taylor Jenkins at 6 years and 10m per year, and don’t want to go into the start of his first season with the question unclear of if Giannis will be on the team or not. 6 years indicates Jenkins has a lot of time/job security to rebuild a team in the event Giannis leaves.
So Milwaukee doesn’t have all the leverage in this situation, a fact that many of these articles ignore. A lot of Milwaukee fans are still in the mindset that Giannis at 31 and on an expiring contract will return a top 4 pick, Dylan Harper etc which won’t happen.
He could return Jaylen Brown.
I don’t see that happening for the reasons above – similar players in terms of age and contract (Giannis is 2 years older) – but completely different in terms of impact. Would be swapping two players with max contracts but in impact terms trading an All-Star for an MVP. And solving Boston’s problems of what to do with Brown’s extension. Would definitely be a great trade for Boston but don’t see the logic at all for Milwaukee.
Agree. Plus, what do the Bucks want to do? I would think an initial soft tank for a chance at a higher pick, while using picks the teams gave them from any potential Giannis trade, so Brown’s timeline doesn’t align with that kind of plan.
That makes sense and they’d need to unload their other aging players for whatever assets they could bring in. But I’ll stick to my guns and say they will get an impressive combination of players and picks for a player of his caliber. And, as you point out, try to maximize the value in the future , either drafting quality or trading.
Bucks don’t have their pick next year and don’t control their draft for the next 4 years, until their 2031 first which they haven’t traded. Since after this draft they don’t control their draft until 2031 they really can’t tank.
They have the #10 pick and what I think they are looking for/what has been reported is as much draft capital as possible right now/this year, plus young players to win with now. They were hoping GSW or Miami would move into the top 4 of this draft and declined GSW’s offer of 4 firsts at the trade deadline.
No other team really meets the combination of what the Bucks want (players + picks) and what Giannis wants (Eastern conference, win now team) than Miami. Think it comes down to the Bucks pushing to get every last prospect Miami has (Jakucionas, Larsson) in addition to the base offer of Herro, Ware, maybe Jaquez, and Miami trying to hold on to as much as possible.
Report: Giannis Antetokounpo is priortizing 2 things with a new team
Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated May 9, 2026 4:48 PM ET
Giannis Antetokounmpo might be out on at least half the league if the latest report about him is to be believed.
The disgruntled Milwaukee Bucks star Antetokounmpo is believed to want to play for a true title contender, Sam Amick and Eric Nehm of the Atlantic reported Saturday. Additionally, Antetokounmpo is believed to prefer staying in the Eastern Conference.
Antetokounmpo, the former NBA MVP, is looking to end his tenure in Milwaukee after 13 total seasons and a championship in 2021. In the five years since winning it all, the Bucks have won just one total playoff series, and the 31-year-old Antetokounmpo is seemingly ready to move on.
Top Contending Eastern Conference Teams:
DetroitBostonNew YorkClevelandAtlantaTorontoPhiladelphiaOrlandoCharlotteIndiana
any team gets him their champ contender/wemby joker about only two id take over him.take wemby off spurs their the heat ditto joker ant sga
The Spurs went toe to toe with Minnesota last night until the last 5 minutes. They were actually up in the 4th quarter. So, yes, not nearly as good without Wemby, but still better than the Heat were this season.
i think its even with our team w/o wemby.ill be the homer on this one mr negative lol.think bams to quick for big vanilla k.dav can guard fox.can our 2gs smf hang with those youngens on spurs might be an issue.
There’s a part of me saying gut the roster & trade the picks for the Freak…then the other hoping Heat fail and get outbid resulting in a formidable lottery position next season while rooting for all these young lads playing for these generational contracts. What a wonderful life!