The Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes have heated up in recent days ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, and fans of the Miami Heat should be happy to learn that the team appears to be in the thick of the race to land him via trade.
Insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported that the Heat are one of two teams that have been brought up a whole lot in conversations with other NBA squads that are following Antetokounmpo’s situation.
“Two teams have come up frequently in recent days in our conversations with various teams around the league that are either in direct pursuit of Antetokounmpo or closely following the situation,” Stein and Fischer wrote.
“Miami and — surprise — Minnesota.”
They also noted the Heat are a “natural leading suitor” for Antetokounmpo and that Miami has been linked as a potential landing spot for the 2021 NBA champion dating all the way back to the beginning of the decade. It should be noted, however, that that’s different from Miami being the one and only leading suitor.
“The Heat, of course, are a natural leading suitor in this discussion,” they wrote.
“They’ve been mentioned as a possible Antetokounmpo destination going as far back as 2020, when league sources say that The Greek Freak had South Beach high on his list of potential landing spots in the event that he did not sign a contract extension with the [Milwaukee] Bucks.
“He wound up, of course, signing two such extensions.
“The Heat, however, have been looming as a potential Antetokounmpo destination ever since. And as The Stein Line reported Tuesday night, Heat officials are said to believe that they have a real shot at ultimately winning the Giannis Sweepstakes.”
The Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks have also been connected to Antetokounmpo. Stein and Fischer wrote that although the Minnesota Timberwolves have rarely been mentioned as contenders for Antetokounmpo to the degree that the Heat, Warriors and Knicks have, that shouldn’t be the case, with Minnesota truly in the mix.
Antetokounmpo is the best player in the league with a realistic shot of getting dealt before the trade deadline, as he’s long been one of the NBA’s premier two-way talents. He’s capable of scoring the ball with the best of them (he’s averaged 24.0 points per game in the NBA) while also being the most dominant defensive player on the floor (he’s a former Defensive Player of the Year).
The 31-year-old has also proven that he can be the head of the snake on a title team, as he won Finals MVP honors after Milwaukee secured the 2021 title and was the team’s best player by leaps and bounds during its run to that championship. In the 2021 NBA Playoffs, he averaged 30.2 points, 12.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.2 blocks per contest.
But he now may have one foot out of Milwaukee in light of how little the Bucks have managed to accomplish ever since that championship in 2021. The Bucks have made it past the first round of the playoffs just once since then, and the team has been bounced in the first round of the playoffs in every one of the last three seasons.
Moreover, Milwaukee is in grave danger of missing the 2026 NBA Playoffs entirely, as it’s the No. 12 seed in the East at 18-27. The situation is giving teams like the Heat a chance to swoop in and try to land a generational talent.