3 ways the Heat would have had a better shot at Giannis Antetokounmpo

With the NBA Finals concluded, the focus now shifts to the next marquee event on the league's calendar: the NBA Draft. This event has an especially significant meaning to those invested in the trade developments in Milwaukee surrounding franchise legend, Giannis Antetokounmpo. You can bet that we are following along very closely, providing every detail along the way on Off the Floor, the discord server that will provide you the most HEAT anywhere.

Bucks Ownership has spoken pretty candidly about a target resolution date on the Antetokounmpo situation being some time before the NBA Draft. Well, here we are. Teams are conjuring up their final offers, searching for additional teams to facilitate a transaction and preparing to engage Milwaukee for what feels like for real this time.

The Giannis countdown clock has begun. According to owner Jimmy Haslam, we will know if Giannis will be in Milwaukee by the NBA draft. pic.twitter.com/RxoHrxSWWw
— 620 WTMJ (@620wtmj) May 7, 2026

Firmly in the mix stands the Miami Heat. Mind you, this is a team that has been linked to the pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo since 2021.

This isn't a freshly plotted out plan to pursue the 2x MVP. This is a half decade's worth of at least a subconscious understanding among the Heat front office, that the situation in Milwaukee could, and probably would, become one that would lend itself to Giannis eventually requesting a trade.

So as we approach the draft in just over a week, the soundbite that is traveling around league circles and social media is that Milwaukee remains less than enamored with the Heat's final offer for Giannis. The word on the street is Milwaukee feels it is lacking just every so slightly. Whether it be a blue chip young player, ascending all star or enough first round draft capital.

“Giannis wants to go, will accept a deal to Boston… What I was told today was, Haslem wants his player. They want someone they can say ‘hey, we got this guy.’ The guy is not Tyler Herro. — The Bucks want to have their trophy. They want to say ‘yes we lost a top 5 player but look… pic.twitter.com/zsik97Tspt
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) June 15, 2026

So the question then becomes, what could Miami have done in the last few years to have better position themselves to own the requisite assets in their arsenal to be able to make an offer to Milwaukee that would have closed this deal without the haggling. Let's investigate:

1. Place more value on keeping 2nd round picks. The Heat have made several deals in recent years that have sacrificed a half dozen 2nd round draft picks. While many of the trades were to save money, those picks have value in two ways for Miami. They would either be available to sweeten trades such as the one they are negotiating for Giannis right now, or would provide you with additional young players on cost controlled contracts that can backfill your roster in the event you trade all of your best young players for a superstar.

2. Consider trading players in the last year of their contracts who are approaching unrestricted free agency. This most recently applies to Andrew Wiggins and Norman Powell. However, it extends to many Heat players that have left via free agency in the last 4 years. In the case of Wiggins and Powell last season, I understand it is a balance, because no matter what you think of the Heat's chances of making a run last season were, trading Wiggins and/or Powell back at the February 2026 trade deadline, when Miami was closer to the 6th seed than the 10th seed, seemed counter intuitive and unrealistic.

However, the reality now is that Miami is currently in a position where they are unable to use Andrew Wiggins contract in a trade until he makes a decision to opt in or test free agency. That decision is likely to come after the Heat need to submit a final offer for Antentekounmpo They also run the risk of losing Norman Powell in free agency and getting nothing in return. In both scenarios, had you traded either player for even a heavily protected future first round pick(s), it could have conceivably been the type of sweetener that closes a deal such as the one for Giannis.

Even if you want to exclude Wiggins and Powell from this conversation related to trading players in the last year of the their contracts, the Heat have plenty of other examples of players (Strus, Vincent and Martin come to mind) that they could have traded in advance of their upcoming free agency to acquire an asset that would have meant more to them today when negotiating with Milwaukee. For the player they have been targetting since 2021. I understand that they are not going to trade every player that is facing free agency, as when they are key contributors, the team values their contribution on the court more than their trade value. Again, this is just an example of where more balance may have been a more prudent approach.

3. Trade Tyler Herro sooner. I know, that sounds harsh. However, this is becoming a more difficult situation by the day. Almost every pursuit of a star player to supplement Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo was headlined with a package including Herro. In every circumstance it appeared teams were lukewarm in acquring Tyler Herro as the key cog of a trade. Now with an extension looming, it is clear to all that Herro and Miami is not intersted in a long term future together, so I his value is in question. Ultimately, Herro has outperformed his draft slot by leaps and bounds and been an overwhelming success story, while also appearing to be the player that the Heat likely should have bene more proactive in trading to fortify the Butler/Adebayo era. Or to start the Giannis/Bam era.

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