Which player will be missed the most in shocking Heat-Bucks haul?

As part of the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks mega Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, Miami shipped out four players as part of the deal.

Those four were headlined by former All-Star and Milwaukee hometown native Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis.

Pelle Larsson ultimately survived, and will go on to be a valuable supporting cast player around Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. Unfortunately, the Bucks didn’t have any interest in taking on Nikola Jovic’s near $15 million annual contract.

All four players that were shipped out had their moments repping a Heat jersey and will hopefully go on to have long and successful careers in the league. But who will they really wind up missing the most as part of this haul?

Of course, the player that Miami traded that currently has the most talent is Tyler Herro. He’s a former Sixth Man of the Year, a 2024 All-Star and 3-point contest Champion. Herro developed over the years into a legitimate clutch three-level scoring threat.

The problem with Tyler Herro? He could not stay healthy.

Herro is coming off a 2025-26 season where he appeared in a career-low 33 games. He played in just 42 games two seasons ago. Due to an assortment of different unlucky injuries, Herro’s lone healthy campaign came in 2024-25 where he played 77 games— and that was the year he emerged to All-Star status. Unfortunately for him, the best ability is availability. He was due to get paid and Miami clearly grown frustrated of his missed games to commit long term money.

Jakucionis was still a rookie and didn’t get a chance to prove much. Jaquez Jr. was a Sixth Man of the Year finalist this past season and was a solid rotation piece. However, the one that may come back to bite the Heat has to be Ware.

Kel’el Ware has all the tools to still develop into an All-Star player.

Ware ultimately struggled to earn coach Erik Spoelstra’s trust during his two seasons with the Heat. There’s been known motor concerns when it comes to Ware’s energy and heart on the court since he was a college player.

Despite all this, Ware still has elite potential. He had several stretches where he stepped into the starting unit alongside Bam Adebayo and dominated. His floor spreading, paint presence and rim protection made him Miami’s most promising piece to develop ever since he stepped foot into the organization’s building.

At 7-foot, he showed plenty of signs of still having the athleticism, mobility and talent to be a truly versatile big man for years to come.

Ware averaged 11.1 points and 9.0 boards per game to go along with 1.1 blocks on 53% shooting and 40% from deep last season. And those numbers were from inconsistent minutes, nonetheless.

If the Bucks were to unleash Ware with extended playing time over the next few years, he has a clear All-Star ceiling if given the opportunity. This notion must have been a critical part in Milwaukee moving forward with the Heat’s offer for Antetokounmpo.

At the end of the day, does Ware have a Giannis type ceiling? No.

That’s why he had to be sacrificed in order to get this deal done.

All these players provided value for Miami, but the biggest risk of all that were packaged that they could regret dealing has to be Ware— especially if he gets the consistency in minutes that he couldn’t get with the Heat.

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