For more than a year following Damian Lillard’s Achilles tear, the scuttlebutt around the Milwaukee Bucks was whether or not they were going to have to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo to greener pastures. Antetokounmpo is all about wanting to compete for championships, and the Bucks aren’t even close to that now.
Well, at least the situation has a resolution now. They will reportedly move Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr, Kasparas Jakučionis, three first-round picks, one pick swap and one second-rounder.
This is a massive, landscape-shifting deal for the Bucks and Heat, as Miami lands the star it’s sought for years. This trade could actually expand to more teams than just Milwaukee and Miami. For now, let’s bust out the red ink and throw some grades down for Miami and Milwaukee.
Miami Heat acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis
Pat Riley and the Heat have been searching for acquiring a superstar for more than a decade. They’ve acquired very good players and made some impressive runs with those good players. But they haven’t landed a superstar acquisition since LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade in the summer of 2010. Sixteen years later and probably five-to-six years after they started wondering if they could land Antetokounmpo at some point, the Greek Freak is headed to the Heat.
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The Heat still have a lot of work to do, and we know their roster remains incomplete and lopsided. Miami is pairing Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo as its franchise mainstay. The Heat also have Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jović and Davion Mitchell as veterans on the roster we can expect to surround these two big men. Portis will also join Miami, offering more depth to a loaded frontcourt.
The next step for Miami? Signing Antetokounmpo to an extension, which he will reportedly agree to when eligible with Miami. The Heat must seek out 3-point shooting, guard play to initiate the offense and lots of depth. Miami is one of the best organizations at finding gems in the rough and developing them to be playoff contributors. However, the timeline gets greatly accelerated to compete in the East now. You only acquire Antetokounmpo in a blockbuster trade if you intend to compete now.
Norman Powell is a free agent the Heat can hopefully re-sign, and they do have some guys most people have never heard of — such as Dru Smith, Myron Gardner and Pelle Larsson — to hopefully flesh out this roster. But the Heat won’t have draft capital to move for these extra pieces after giving up this year’s 13th pick and picks in 2031 and 2033 with a future pick swap, as well.
Luckily for them, Erik Spoelstra might still be the best coach in the league, so he can turn a lot of iffy options into contributors. For now, the Heat completed Step 1 of their plan this summer: acquire Antetokounmpo. The next steps will be crucial to ensuring they can be taken seriously as East contenders. At least they’ve already beaten Boston in the Antetokoumpo sweepstakes.
Grade: B
Milwaukee Bucks acquire Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr, Kasparas Jakučionis, three first-round picks, one pick swap and one second-rounder
The Bucks may end up sending Tyler Herro to another team if they don’t want to deal with his upcoming extension, but this was the best deal on the table for two reasons: One, Milwaukee lands players who can help now; and two, the Bucks acquire future assets to eventually build another playoff contender in the future.
Herro, who was born in Milwaukee, is only 26 years old, a really good scorer and a one time All-Star. Keeping him on the Bucks would be a good idea, although I’d imagine he wants a max deal in order to do it. He might not be worth tying up that much of your cap situation, considering he’s not an All-NBA-caliber player. Flipping him to another team (Detroit has been rumored in the leadup to this trade) could still happen early this summer.
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As for the rest of the pieces, Ware is an extremely intriguing big man. He can handle the ball and do stuff on the perimeter. He’s a great rebounder who can protect the rim and play versatile defense. He’s still on his rookie deal and has a very bright future on this team. Jaquez rebounded extremely well and was a Sixth Man of the Year candidate this season. He can do a little bit of everything and is a fantastic role player to have in your culture.
Jakučionis was a solidly touted point guard prospect last year who has a lot of work to do. He’s a good playmaker and a decent scoring option. He could blossom into a starting point guard at some point.
For the Bucks, getting draft capital in this deal was probably the biggest part. They don’t have control of their draft picks until 2031. They have the 10th and 13th picks in this draft, which should net them two good building blocks for the future. Now, they pray on the downfall of the Heat by 2031 and 2033, hoping Antetokounmpo (31 years old now) isn’t capable of having a massive impact at the turn of the next decade. And Miami would then be in a potential decline.
The Bucks restocked their roster with good players and have veterans they flip via trade, so they can potentially put together a more competitive, balanced roster in the next two seasons, given their draft assets. This was the best restart they could have for this situation you simply can’t win now.
Grade: A-
