\n<\/p>\n
The league-wide noise connecting Milwaukee\u2019s Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami has been loud for weeks, if not months, now.<\/p>\n
The Heat were aggressive in trying to land Antetokounmpo at the February trade deadline, when league sources say they thought a deal would get done before the Bucks ultimately backed away.<\/p>\n
This time around, with league sources indicating that the package is likely to include Tyler Herro, Kel\u2019el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., either Pelle Larsson or Kasparas Jaku\u010dionis and draft capital (they can offer up to three first-round picks), Miami is still seen as the front-runner in the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, Herro took the public chatter to a new level this week when he unfollowed the Heat on Instagram <\/a>and sent the kind of cryptic social media posts that made many wonder if a deal was about to get done.<\/p>\n So considering these two teams have been legally permitted to do a deal for nearly two months now, and that no other suitors have appeared as serious as the Heat to this point, what\u2019s the hold-up? Even with Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam declaring in early May<\/a> that he wanted resolution before the June 23 draft, one would think they\u2019d do the deal if it were the best available package on the market.<\/p>\n And therein lies the rub.<\/p>\n Per league and team sources, the Bucks appear to be seeking clarity from several suitors as to what they would be willing to offer before making a final decision. The Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic, the sources say, are among them. The Portland Trail Blazers are known to be interested in trading for Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n Still, it appears more likely \u2014 if the Bucks have their way \u2014 that they would be involved as a third team, as a way for Milwaukee to regain control of some of the picks they lost in the Damian Lillard trade in 2023.<\/p>\n Yet, the sources say there is a sense of distrust among some teams over how the Bucks handled trade discussions around Antetokounmpo at the deadline.<\/p>\n As we reported at the time<\/a>, that was the first time Bucks general manager Jon Horst opened the door to any team that wanted to make a pitch for the two-time MVP. As the deadline approached, the Bucks were listening to offers and signaling a willingness to deal the most accomplished player in the franchise\u2019s history.<\/p>\n However, in the days leading up to the deadline, the skepticism among rival teams about the Bucks\u2019 sincerity was justified when Antetokounmpo remained in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n It was, in the eyes of some, a fact-finding mission that was intended to set the stage for the summer to come. The sources say some teams are imploring the Bucks to come to them with the final details of an offer they would accept, rather than going back and forth. The hope is that taking that tact would minimize the locker-room impact of the rumor mill.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the human factor: Several teams are concerned about making an offer involving prominent players, only to have those relationships damaged when they don\u2019t get Antetokounmpo in the end. Case in point: Herro\u2019s aforementioned reaction to the rumors tied to his team.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear whether the market beyond Miami is surprisingly soft or whether some teams are waiting until Milwaukee gets closer to its self-imposed deadline to be more forthcoming about their true level of interest. But as The Athletic<\/em> has reported for months now<\/a>, Antetokounmpo\u2019s known intrigue with the Celtics, coupled with his concerns about how thin the Heat roster might be if he makes the Miami move, makes them worth watching.<\/p>\n If Antetokounmpo would be willing to sign the four-year, $275 million extension in Boston, as league sources indicated would be the case, the Celtics pose a serious threat to the Heat\u2019s pursuit. Celtics star Jaylen Brown is widely believed to be the most prominent player who would come the Bucks\u2019 way in that deal, though rival teams expect that Milwaukee would trade the 29-year-old forward again for younger players and draft picks.<\/p>\n Some also see the Timberwolves as an emerging option for the Bucks. While Antetokounmpo is known to prefer a trade involving a team in the Eastern Conference<\/a>, league sources say the Bucks are interested in what Minnesota has to offer. If the Timberwolves want to get into the mix, league sources say the Bucks would want a package including Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, Terrence Shannon Jr. and their two tradable first-round picks (No. 29 in this year\u2019s draft and their 2033 pick).<\/p>\n Yet, considering McDaniels\u2019 immense value alongside Edwards as an elite perimeter defender, as well as his impressive postseason performance, team sources say Minnesota has indicated that McDaniels is off-limits. Per those sources, the same goes for 19-year-old big man Joan Beringer. The Bucks\u2019 perspective is that\u2019s the kind of price a team should pay to land a player seen as one of the five best in the world \u2014 if not higher. Antetokounmpo\u2019s view of the Timberwolves option would certainly come into play here, too. It\u2019s unclear as of yet whether he\u2019d be willing to sign a long-term deal with Minnesota.<\/p>\n Few decision-makers around the NBA have been as aggressive as Wolves president Tim Connelly, whose team went to back-to-back conference finals before falling to San Antonio in the second round of this season\u2019s playoffs.<\/p>\n Connelly has pursued stars like Kevin Durant<\/a> and Antetokounmpo (at the February trade deadline<\/a>) while showing some level of interest in others like Kyrie Irving and Ja Morant, but has yet to land a high-profile running mate for Anthony Edwards.<\/p>\n Yet with the ascension of San Antonio and Oklahoma City in the loaded West, and the omnipresent pressure that comes with having a franchise centerpiece like Edwards, the Timberwolves might be more motivated than before to bring Antetokounmpo to town as they build a championship contender around the 24-year-old Edwards.<\/p>\n Despite Antetokounmpo\u2019s faults, from his troubled recent health history to the open question of whether he\u2019ll be worth the exorbitant cost when he\u2019s entering his late 30s, he is still widely seen as an elite game changer.<\/p>\n And in this era of the New York Knicks, Victor Wembanyama\u2019s Spurs and Oklahoma City with all its dominance and depth, Antetokounmpo is one of the few who can help with that cause.<\/p>\n The question now, which should be answered in the next 11 days, is whether the Bucks will find the deal they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The league-wide noise connecting Milwaukee\u2019s Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami has been loud for weeks, if not months, now. The Heat<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_animmysite_disable_animation":false,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/06\/11230643\/GettyImages-2279859835-scaled.jpg?width=1200&height=630&fit=cover","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[212],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendifyhubusa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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