[Amick & Nehm] The noise surrounding the Miami Heat and Antetokounmpo remains louder than all the rest. Many people around the league, from agents to executives, continue to believe that Antetokounmpo will end up in Miami when this saga finally comes to an end.
Miami Heat
The noise surrounding the Miami Heat and Antetokounmpo remains louder than all the rest. Many people around the league, from agents to executives, continue to believe that Antetokounmpo will end up in Miami when this saga finally comes to an end.
Team president Pat Riley made it clear that the Heat would be aggressive this offseason, and few moves would be more aggressive than making a deal to bring the two-time NBA MVP to South Beach. Miami was among the most dogged teams in its pursuit of Antetokounmpo at the trade deadline, when league sources say the talks were so advanced that Heat officials were optimistic a deal would get done. The Bucks ultimately opted to wait for this summer to revisit the situation.
The rumors of Giannis’ openness to Miami have persisted for years, and league sources indicate that he remains both intrigued and impressed with the organization’s winning culture. But the more specific question, and the thing that is known to be a concern for Antetokounmpo, is this: Could the Heat truly contend anytime soon if they have to gut their roster to get him?
While the Heat could offer Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez and all three first-round picks at their disposal (two future firsts and No. 13 in the 2026 NBA Draft), that sort of deal would leave Antetokounmpo with the prospect of competing with Bam Adebayo, Norm Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell and … not much else.
Riley and longtime Heat general manager Andy Elisburg would certainly try to improve the supporting cast with other offseason moves, but depth would likely be an issue.
Rival executives also question the potential fit with Antetokounmpo alongside Adebayo. While Adebayo is a three-time All-Star and six-time NBA All-Defensive Team honoree, he is — despite taking 5.5 3s per game (31.8 percent) last season — not much of a floor spacer. That has been a requisite for any center starting alongside Antetokounmpo since former Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer blitzed the league with a five-out, let-it-fly configuration in the 2018-19 season, Antetokounmpo’s first MVP campaign.
Meanwhile, the Bucks are on the lookout for a deal that includes a blue-chip young star or a massive quantity of picks. And while there are quality players and picks in any projected Heat offer, it’s not hard to imagine other teams offering a stronger package if the Heat’s aggressiveness improves the market.
For Antetokounmpo’s part, there has been one constant in his 13-year career: He wants to compete for championships. When he didn’t have a championship, it was the only thing that he wanted. Then, once he led the Bucks to their first title in 50 seasons in 2021, he spent the last five seasons obsessing over how to get another one.
Would he be much closer to reaching that goal again in Miami? There’s no way to know just yet, but Antetokounmpo’s opinion on the matter will likely come into play. While he has no direct influence in trade discussions, his willingness to commit to his next team for the long term — or not to — will be a key factor.
Boston Celtics
Behold the wild card in the bunch.
While the Celtics have been controlling the messaging about their part in the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes recently, with longtime Celtics reporter Steve Bulpett indicating that there have been no direct talks between Boston and Milwaukee, there were strong signs at the February trade deadline that they were chewing on the possibility.
Yet, in stark contrast to the Miami situation, where Riley is shouting from the rooftops about the Heat’s plans to chase a star of Antetokounmpo’s ilk, it’s not hard to figure out why the Celtics might move more quietly.
For starters, the rumors surrounding Jaylen Brown’s alleged discontent have quieted down for the past few weeks. The 29-year-old sparked all sorts of speculation about his future in early May, when he declared this his “most fun season” yet on a livestream one day after the Philadelphia 76ers bounced Boston in the first round.
Beyond the strangeness of that comment coming after such a bad postseason finish, it was the fact that he spent the vast majority of this season without longtime co-star Jayson Tatum (who was recovering from his Achilles tendon tear) that made the optics even worse.
However, the Celtics took measures, both publicly and privately, to insist that this storyline was overblown. As such, any exploration of the Antetokounmpo possibility — if there is one this time around — would likely be discreet. Still, the Bucks would be well served by fleshing out the Celtics’ possibilities.
If the Celtics were willing to offer Brown in a Giannis trade, it would be hard for the Bucks to find a more accomplished player. Brown is a five-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA player and the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, but he is also just two years younger than Antetokounmpo.
So while there is no doubting the ability of Boston’s All-NBA forward coming off a career year, he might not fit their timeline or, as rival executives have indicated, their desire to land that top-tier young player in this deal.
Still, a multi-team deal in which Brown headed elsewhere could serve them very well in terms of other players and assets. After all, he’s a tremendous player who’s still in the middle of his prime.
And then there’s the question of how Antetokounmpo sees the Celtics situation. That might matter more than anything else. While league sources have long maintained that he’s interested in joining the Heat, there are also indications that he’s very intrigued with the prospect of joining a Celtics team that, by any objective measure, is deeper and more dynamic than Miami’s and could thus remain more competitive after a blockbuster deal. And again, Antetokounmpo’s focus on getting back to title contention should not be overlooked.
With (reluctant) NBA Coach of the Year Joe Mazzulla at the helm coming off a 56-win season and Tatum headlining a deep roster, Antetokounmpo would be joining one of the Eastern Conference’s most successful franchises of the last decade. There was this fascinating sound bite after the season from Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, too.
“One of the things that we’ve got to figure out is how to have more of an impact at the rim,” he told reporters.
Few players in the NBA do that better than Giannis, but it remains to be seen if Boston will chase him.