Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo trade to Heat or Celtics gets final NBA Draft deadline originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Basketball fans will not have to wait long before they finally know where Giannis Antetokounmpo lands this offseason. The top two teams have been apparent: the Brad Stevens-led Boston Celtics and Pat Riley’s hungry Miami Heat. When will the trade drop? It revolves around the timeline of the NBA Draft.
Antetokounmpo trade to Celtics or Heat will happen before NBA Draft
Per a report of ESPN’s Shams Charania on Get Up, a resolution on the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade will happen before the NBA Draft.
“Sources tell me a trade and a resolution is coming for the Milwaukee Bucks with Giannis Antetokounmpo before the NBA Draft on Tuesday night. The Bucks are in serious conversations with two finalists, the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics. Both teams are Giannis’ preferred trade destinations, but both of these packages are different deals. The variance of these deals is drastic. It’s dramatic,” the NBA Insider disclosed.
As of the moment, Brad Stevens and the Celtics have firmly decided on placing Jaylen Brown as a trade asset to sweeten the agreement with the Bucks. Whether or not they do land the Greek Freak in this trade, it has also been reported that the duo of Jayson Tatum and Brown will be broken up. The Celtics are set on trading away Brown this offseason to another team despite of the trade outcome with the Bucks. Derrick White has also been a recurring name in these conversations.
“These have been intense negotiations,The Bucks engaged in conversations at the deadline. They’ve been open for business since the draft combine in May. They’ve narrowed in on these two teams right now. Giannis, my understanding right now, he is ready to be traded. Either Boston or Miami, and we’ll see what happens over the next 24 hours,” Charania added.
For Pat Riley and the Heat, a few names have been pushed in for Antetokounmpo to get paired up with Bam Adebayo. Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and their 13th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft have all been offered to the Bucks. The biggest drawbacks have to be their contracts. Herro will become an unrestricted free agent by the end of the 2026-27 season, Jaquez is also in the same situation while Ware still has a club option that spans until 2027-28.
The balance of the league is at stake in the next day. Will the Heat finally be back in title contention or are the Celtics going to be the first to break the streak of the eight unique and non-repeating NBA champions with Banner 19?
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