Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard Urged To Join Miami Heat Next Season

The Milwaukee Bucks ended the regular season with a 48-34 record, good for the fifth seed in the East.

They're set to face the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight year. Last year, they were eliminated in six games after 2021 Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo sustained an injury three games in.

This time around, they'll be without nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard, who's out indefinitely due to a pulmonary embolism. NBA veteran Marcus Morris is skeptical of the Bucks' future given the situation. On ESPN's First Take, Morris looked ahead to this offseason, where he says the circumstances could drastically change.

Marcus Morris says Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard should leave Milwaukee and join Miami if the Bucks lose in the first round

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"If I'm Giannis and we don't get past this first round, I think I'm going to, I think I'm going to sunny, sunny, sunny, sunny Miami," Morris said. "Listen, it's wide open over there. You can start something new. It's a really big market. You know, they need, it's wide open, right? And then you talk about Dame as well. Like, do both of them somehow slide to a new team and get to Miami?"

The Heat were the team Lillard originally asked to be traded to in 2023 before the Bucks made a deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. Additionally, the Heat sought out to pursue Antetokounmpo in 2021 before he signed an extension with Milwaukee.

"I mean, listen. We done see crazier things happen", Morris said. "Do Milwaukee want to blow it up after they lose, right? You just got Kyle Kuzma. Like, if they lose in this first round, I think it's so many questions to be answered and I know that, you know, Giannis wants to win right?"

Now that the Jimmy Butler era is over in Miami, Morris believes the Bucks' stars can build something there, despite his co-star Stephen A. Smith's valid concern that the Heat wouldn't have enough to make such a move happen.

"But I'm just not sure, if I'm Giannis, that I want to continue to keep on trying like, he got his one. Like now, is it something new? Is it a new challenge? Do I go to a new team? Do I go to a bigger market? I think it'd be something to see for sure."

Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached at toledoalexander22@gmail.com. Twitter: @tropicalblanket