The Miami Heat landed on Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s preferred list should he ask out of the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Ringer’s Howard Beck dropped the latest rumor surrounding Antetokounmpo’s potential landing spots on “The Zach Lowe Show” podcast on Tuesday.
“I poked around a little bit a few days ago and the initial thing I got from one person was just like some rumblings that it’s already just the big cities: One of the LA teams or one of the New York teams or maybe Miami, not a big market, but a glamour market, mid-size market,” Howard said. “I think they threw Chicago in there. I can’t remember if Houston came up. It should. So first is like, where does Giannis want to go and do they honor that? Because again, back to Damian Lillard, you’re not obligated to honor it.”
There is a star void to fill in Miami after the messy exit of Jimmy Butler. Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA MVP and a one-time champion is a bigger star than Butler and his no non-sense approach to the game is a perfect fit to the Heat culture.
Bucks Will Only Trade Giannis on One Condition
The Bucks are in no hurry to trade Antetokounmpo because having him is “so important to them financially, ” according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
They will only trade their franchise star if he asks for it.
“I don’t think Giannis himself does not want to go to the Bucks and say, ‘Trade me.’ But next year, there’s no way with Damian Lillard carrying a salary of nearly 60 million — they don’t have control of their own first-round pick till 2031 — they don’t have a pathway to build a contender around him at this point,” Stein said on the “All NBA” podcast. “But the rumbles that you always hear are that just having Giannis is so important to them financially. They’re not going to trade him unless he pushes it.”
And if he does, teams, including the Heat, will line up at the Bucks’ door.
“The whole league is on edge, waiting to see will Giannis’ representatives go to the Bucks and say, ‘It’s time. Move us, hold the auction, and start over.’ I don’t think the Bucks want to do that,” Stein said. “You could make the case that they should want to do that, that they should say, ‘Let’s go out and get the largest haul we can get back for Giannis,’ but I don’t think the Bucks are there. We’re going to see where Giannis is.”
Bam Adebayo Hints at Heat Shakeup
After their tumultuous season ended with the Cleveland Cavaliers sweeping them, Bam Adebayo forecast a busy offseason in Miami.
“There’s going to be a lot of changes this summer,” Adebayo said. “Just from my point of view, understanding how the guy with the silver hair works. Just be prepared for that.”
Adebayo was clearly referencing Heat president Pat Riley, who hates losing. Riley has a solid track record of retooling the Heat from the Big 3 era of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to Butler.
The Heat have no cap room to add a significant talent. So, the trade market will be their only pathway to shake up the roster that is so far away from contending for a championship, let alone in the Eastern Conference.
