Giannis Antetokounmpo getting
traded to Heat in blockbuster deal, AP source says
[June 23, 2026]
By TIM REYNOLDS
MIAMI (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo wants more championships. So do
the Miami Heat.
Their interests are officially aligned — and the Heat finally have
another superstar.
Ending a marathon watch for the next great Miami get, the Heat
landed Antetokounmpo — a two-time NBA MVP and 10-time All-Star —
from the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night in exchange for a massive
haul of players and draft picks.
The terms, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press
on condition of anonymity because the move had yet to receive the
required league approval: Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis are heading
to Miami for Wisconsin native Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el
Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis.
Milwaukee also gets the No. 13 selection that will be made in
Tuesday night’s NBA draft, along with a first-round pick swap in
2030, first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and a second-rounder in
2033, the person said.
It ends a wild back-and-forth in the final days of the saga, with
the Bucks considering offers from both Miami and Boston for
Antetokounmpo — who led Milwaukee to the 2021 NBA title, was on the
NBA’s 75th anniversary list of its greatest players ever, is a
nine-time All-NBA selection and is coming off an injury-shortened
season in which he averaged 27.6 points per game.
Heat go star hunting again, and it pays off
There has been no secret that this is what Miami has sought, because
this is what Miami usually seeks. The Heat pulled off similar moves
by landing Shaquille O’Neal in 2004 (helping lead to the 2006 NBA
title) and by getting LeBron James and Chris Bosh to play alongside
Dwyane Wade in 2010 (leading to four NBA Finals runs in four seasons
together, along with the 2012 and 2013 NBA titles).
Now, it’s Antetokounmpo’s turn. At 31, the Heat clearly believe he
still has many good years left — and it’s generally presumed that by
making this deal they’ll give the Greek superstar a massive
extension later this year.
He was a perennial MVP candidate in Milwaukee, getting votes for
that award in nine consecutive seasons before 2025-26 when too many
missed games left him ineligible.
He has averaged 24.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in his career,
with 10 consecutive seasons of averaging at least 22.9 points — with
three years in there of averaging more than 30 points per game.
Only seven active players have more points in their careers than
Antetokounmpo, who has totaled 21,531 to this point.
A trade seemed inevitable
Antetokounmpo had been mentioned in trade talks countless times in
recent years, with the Bucks always insisting — with words and
actions — that they had no interest in trading their best player and
one of the best players in the history of the franchise.
But this time, it seemed different.
The Bucks, who fired Doc Rivers as coach after the season, don’t
have a roster that would be considered a championship contender. By
trading Antetokounmpo, they can essentially start over with four
players (and the Heat were high on all of them) along with draft
capital.
“I just think before the draft is a natural time, right, because if
Giannis does play somewhere else we’re going to get a lot of assets.
... You’ve got to get it right,” Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam said in
May, when the team introduced new coach Taylor Jenkins — who was
told that Antetokounmpo may or may not be with the franchise when
next season starts.
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Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo walks off the court
after an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Friday,
April 10, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps, File)
Jenkins and the rest of the NBA now has the answer:
Antetokounmpo won't be there.
Antetokounmpo had spoken highly of Miami many times
over the years, even when the Heat and Bucks were going head-to-head
in the playoffs. He also shares an agent with Heat star center Bam
Adebayo, who was the only player Miami clearly was not willing to
part with in order to make this deal happen.
“They’re going to play tough and they’re not going to stop playing,”
Antetokounmpo said after Milwaukee played Miami on March 12. “That’s
the Miami Heat culture.”
Little did anyone know that night that those words were coming after
what would be the next-to-last game for Antetokounmpo in a Bucks
uniform. He played three nights later against Indiana, then was held
out of Milwaukee’s final 15 games of the season.
The Bucks said that was for injury-related reasons. Antetokounmpo
said he wanted to play.
He had some bouts with injuries this past season: Antetokounmpo
missed four games in late November with a left adductor strain and
sat out eight games in December with a right calf strain, then he
injured the right calf again in January.
He landed awkwardly on a dunk in that March 15 victory over Indiana
and didn’t play again due to what team officials had labeled as a
left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. Antetokounmpo said the
last few weeks of the season that he was healthy and wanted to play,
a dispute that resulted in an investigation by the league office.
For Antetokounmpo, it's about legacy
Antetokounmpo said coming into the 2025-26 season that he is at the
point in his career where he thinks about his legacy, and how more
championships are important to him. Told he is already considered an
all-time great, he bristled at the notion.
“I’m not there yet,” Antetokounmpo said that day at Bucks training
camp.
That’s hard to believe, considering his resume. He’s won a
championship. He’s been an MVP. He’s been an NBA Finals MVP. He’s a
perennial All-Star and All-NBA pick. He’s one of only seven players
born somewhere other than the 50 states of the U.S. to have reached
the 20,000-point mark. In 2025, he led Greece to its first
EuroBasket medal in 16 years.
“Every basketball player, every athlete, starts a career and they
have this quest of what they want to accomplish and what to be
remembered for,” Antetokounmpo said in that same training camp
interview. “And I think at this point, I’ve accomplished everything
that I’ve put my mind to.”
He said those words in Miami. And now, Miami is about to be his new
home.
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