Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks reacts against the Atlanta Hawks during the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena on January 19, 2026 in Atlanta. Kevin C. Cox Getty Images
In the final minutes of the Miami Heat’s latest setback, the attention had already turned to Thursday’s looming trade deadline.
“We want Giannis!” fans at Kaseya Center chanted, with the Heat trailing by double digits in what turned out to be an ugly 127-115 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.
While chants inside the Heat’s home arena called for change in the middle of another middling season that has Miami in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a 27-25 record, it’s now up to Heat owner Micky Arison, CEO Nick Arison, president Pat Riley and the organization’s other top decision makers to figure out what that potential change could look like ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline.
“Control what you can control,” Heat captain and center Bam Adebayo said of his message to teammates amid the uncertainty that the approaching trade deadline brings. “That’s the thing that’s tough because it’s easier said than done. And you try to ease guys’ minds by just, like I tell them, winning makes it easier to go to the trade deadline or whatever may happen. It makes it easier for everybody. So for us, we got until Thursday. See what happens but control what you can control. You can’t control what happens up there [in the front office].”
What’s clear is the Heat’s focus remains on the pursuit of Milwaukee Bucks two-time NBA MVP and nine-time All-NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Heat is among the teams trying to trade for Antetokounmpo ahead of Thursday’s deadline, according to a league source.
The Heat has also been linked to Memphis Grizzlies two-time All-Star guard Ja Morant. But while the Heat has registered some level of interest in Morant in recent weeks, a league source made clear that Miami has prioritized its pursuit of Antetokounmpo.
This comes after ESPN’s Shams Charania reported last week that Antetokounmpo “is ready for a new home ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline as several teams have made aggressive offers to the Milwaukee Bucks, who are starting to listen.” Antetokounmpo, who is in his 13th NBA season, has spent his entire NBA career with the Bucks.
Along with the Heat, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors are the two other teams linked to a pursuit of Antetokounmpo ahead of the trade deadline.
Charania reported the Bucks are looking for a “blue-chip young talent and/or a surplus of draft picks” for Antetokounmpo.
While the Timberwolves have no first-round picks available to trade, they could get creative to find a way to obtain first-round picks to send to the Bucks in a deal. But Minnesota does have some win-now talent to offer Milwaukee in forwards Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels to accelerate its rebuild in the post-Giannis era.
The Warriors have four first-round picks they can offer the Bucks in an Antetokounmpo deal, but they appear to lack the “blue-chip young talent” to include in a trade. The 23-year-old Jonathan Kuminga, who has dropped out of the Warriors’ rotation this season but was the seventh overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, could be the young prospect who the Warriors offer the Bucks.
Meanwhile, the Heat doesn’t have as many picks as the Warriors to offer the Bucks. But the Heat does have an intriguing combination of young talent — 21-year-old Kel’el Ware, 26-year-old Tyler Herro, 24-year-old Jaime Jaquez Jr., 24-year-old Pelle Larsson and 19-year-old Kasparas Jakucionis — large expiring salary — Terry Rozier, Norman Powell and Andrew Wiggins ($30.2 million player option for next season) — and draft capital — two first-round picks to offer in 2030 and 2032.
It’s worth noting that it will be challenging for the Heat to trade 22-year-old forward Nikola Jovic this week because of rules that make it hard to deal a player whose extension hasn’t kicked in yet.
One hypothetical Heat trade offer for Antetokounmpo that works is Ware, Herro, Jaquez, Jakucionis, Rozier, two first-round picks in 2030 and 2032 first-round pick swaps in 2026, 2029 and 2031 to acquire Antetokounmpo and his brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo from the Bucks.
The Heat could also try to flip the expiring salaries of Powell and/or Wiggins to acquire more first-round picks that it can throw in an Antetokounmpo deal if Miami thinks it has a real shot at him. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Wednesday that the Heat is in the marketplace to try to improve its trade offer to the Bucks.
Miami Heat president Pat Riley looks on during training camp at Abessino Court at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton on October 2, 2025. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Antetokounmpo is still seemingly at the top of his game, averaging 28 points, 10 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game while shooting 64.5 percent from the field and 39.5 percent on 1.3 three-point attempts per game in 30 appearances this season. But he’s expected to miss several weeks after suffering a right calf strain in late January.
Antetokounmpo will become eligible to sign a four-year, $275 million supermax extension on Oct. 1. Without an extension, he could become an unrestricted free agent in the 2027 offseason by declining a $62.8 million player option that summer.
If the offers aren’t good enough this week, the Bucks could decide to keep Antetokounmpo past Thursday’s deadline and instead try to trade him in the offseason when some teams around the league will have more assets to throw in a deal.
Antetokounmpo, who led the Bucks to an NBA championship in 2021, told The Athletic on Tuesday that he wants to remain in Milwaukee, but he also wants to win another title. The Bucks are struggling, entering Wednesday with a 19-29 record this season.
“I want to be here, but I want to be here to win, not fighting for my life to make the playoffs,” Antetokounmpo said to The Athletic. “I’m not used to inconsistent basketball. I’ve played so many years of consistent basketball, I am not used to it anymore. “The moment you feel it, you have that Larry O’Brien dust on you. That’s all you chase. And if you don’t chase it, that means you don’t want to be all that great.”
Acquiring Morant wouldn’t take nearly as much as it would to land Antetokounmpo, especially after the Grizzlies began their rebuild by trading star forward Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Utah Jazz on Tuesday for a package headlined by three first-round picks.
A hypothetical trade that has the Heat dealing away the expiring salaries of Rozier and Simone Fontecchio for Morant would work. But Miami would then have to be willing to take back Morant’s $89 million in additional salary during the next two seasons instead of allowing Rozier and Fontecchio’s contracts to expire this upcoming offseason.
Morant, 26, is on a $39.4 million salary for this season and has two additional seasons left on his contract. Morant is due $42.2 million next season and $44.9 million for the 2027-28 season before he can become an unrestricted free agent in the 2028 offseason, and he’s also eligible to sign up to a three-year, $178 million extension this summer.
Morant’s production has waned in recent years after being named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year for the 2019-20 season and making the All-NBA Second Team for the 2021-22 season.
Morant is averaging 19.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game while shooting 41 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from three-point range in 20 games for the Grizzlies this season. He has been sidelined since Jan. 21 with an elbow injury.
That’s a significant dip from Morant’s lone All-NBA season, when he averaged 27.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game while shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from behind the arc during the 2021-22 season.
If the Heat doesn’t come away with Antetokounmpo and/or Morant, changes could still be made in the form of other moves before Thursday’s deadline. The Heat could even try to flip Powell and/or Wiggins’ contracts for draft picks in an effort to continue stockpiling trade assets for the next star who becomes available.
But some form of change appears to be needed, with the Heat currently on track to be in the play-in tournament for a fourth straight year amid another middle-of-the-road season.
However, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra continues to express optimism that the current roster can turn things around even after going 13-18 following a strong 14-7 start to the season. The Heat has struggled with inconsistent play, winning consecutive games just once since the start of 2026.
“We’re just going to forge ahead until we conquer it,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat taking Wednesday off before returning to practice on Thursday in Miami and then flying to Boston to take on the Celtics on Friday. “It is frustrating. It’s disappointing. I see the potential with our team. I really do. But that ability to sustain or have a game and get a quality win and then do it again and then rinse and repeat and do it again. That’s what all the very good teams are able to do.”
But the bottom line is the Heat isn’t very good at the moment
Or maybe the Heat simply isn’t good enough and moves are needed ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.
“We just got to continue to get better,” Jaquez said, with the Heat taking Wednesday off before returning to practice on Thursday in Miami and then flying to Boston to take on the Celtics on Friday. “The season doesn’t end today. We still got a lot left. As much as it sucks for us, and we’re not happy about it, we got to continue to stay positive, continue to stick together and figure this thing out.”