As new seasons come and go in the NBA, the Miami Heat are always in the thick of trade rumors. Is it the geographic location of being in sunny South Florida? Is it the winning culture of an organization that has championship pedigree? To some degree, it could be a combination of both.
The Heat found themselves back in those rumors linked to yet another superstar. According to Bill Reiter, an NBA insider for CBS Sports, he labeled Miami as a “preferred trade destination” for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“There’s a rising sense of confidence that if things go badly in Milwaukee that Giannis could be available for trade, would really force his way out of Milwaukee, in the next year.”
“A third executive for an Eastern Conference team said they have heard Antetokounmpo’s preferred trade destinations would be the Miami Heat or the Brooklyn Nets.”
The Milwaukee Bucks have come out to an underwhelming start this season, currently sporting a 5-9 record and sitting outside of the Eastern Conference play-in. Antetokounmpo has voiced his frustration on several different occasions to the media, which aligns with these rumors. Granted the Bucks have been able to secure a couple of wins as of late, but things have spiraled for that team over the course of the past two seasons.
They are coming off a first round elimination this past spring, and have shown plenty of inconsistency since the arrival of Doc Rivers as the new head coach. However, the Bucks have slammed the recent rumors of an Antetokounmpo trade. Unless he formally requests out, a deal doesn’t seem to be made anytime soon.
But if Milwaukee’s struggles continue to unfold, does a Heat trade make sense? Recent betting odds have given them the best odds to acquire the former MVP and Defensive Player of the Year.
A trade that lands Antetokounmpo in South Beach would be the biggest acquisition since Jimmy Butler in 2019. As beautiful as it sounds, there are clear financial hurdles in the way between the two teams. The Heat are just under the second apron, as the Bucks are over the second apron. That limits Milwaukee substantially in trade talks, as they can’t receive more salary than they send out. They also wouldn’t be able to aggregate another player into any deal, so sending someone like Bobby Portis as a salary filler wouldn’t work.
Miami is looking at financial restrictions of their own, as they are limited on assets that can match Antetokounmpo’s salary. Depending on who the Heat would gamble to bring in a top-five player like this, a multi-team deal would be the most realistic route. Even so, bigger deals like that are always much easier said than done.
The on-court fit would also be questionable in pairing Bam Adebayo with the Bucks star due to the lack of outside shooting and spacing. Jimmy Butler’s age would pose as a shaky longterm duo alongside Antetokounmpo, although a one-two year title window could make it worth it for all parties involved.
Anything could happen from now until this year’s NBA trade deadline. But as presently constructed, any sort of deal here seems like a pipe dream.
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pick any 2 players u want u got him milw,hopefully duncs one of them lol