Given how shaky the Milwaukee Bucks have been to begin the 2025-26 season, noise about the possibility of superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo playing for a new team has only grown lately.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat are a team that might just be a player of his caliber away from competing for a championship. Miami is 14-11 on the season and was 14-7 before stumbling into a skid.
With all of that in mind, some league insiders seem to believe that the nine-time All-Star and 2021 NBA champion might be willing to call Miami his new NBA home.
“But what if one of the (non-New York) suitors that has reason to believe that Antetokounmpo might be willing to stay with their team for the long term makes the sort of Godfather offer that longtime Bucks general manager Jon Horst can’t refuse?” The Athletic’s Sam Amick posed. “The Miami Heat, for example, are often handicapped by league insiders as a place that Antetokounmpo might be willing to call his new basketball home. Pat Riley and company could offer the Bucks a yacht full of draft assets, all their best young players (All-Star Tyler Herro, promising young big man Kel’el Ware, small forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.) and salary filler (Terry Rozier, if the NBA allows it) to make the numbers work.”
The report from Amick comes as the NBA’s trade season nears. The beginning of trade season is believed by many to be Dec. 15, when the lion’s share of players who signed free-agent deals over the summer are eligible to be moved. The trade deadline this season is set for Feb. 5.
While it is true that the Heat have plenty to offer the Bucks in a deal for Antetokounmpo if trade talks ensue, there are conflicting reports about how the 31-year-old actually feels about his future in Milwaukee. Recently, Antetokounmpo even indicated that he wants to make things work, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes.
"I see a wall and I want to run through the wall, and make things work."@ChrisBHaynes on what Giannis Antetokounmpo told him about his future in Milwaukee.#NBAonPrime pic.twitter.com/hz6t3rZJGR
— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) December 6, 2025
But if the Heat somehow managed to pull off a trade for Antetokounmpo between now and the trade deadline, they would arguably employ the best player in all of the Eastern Conference. He’s a dominant two-way force who can contribute in almost every facet of the game.
The two-time MVP is averaging 28.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per game across 17 appearances with the Bucks this season.
Antetokounmpo will be a player worth monitoring for Heat fans as the trade deadline draws nearer. Folks should expect his name to be brought up in a whole lot more trade rumors in the weeks to come.