Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade Grades: Who Won Blockbuster Deal Between Heat, Bucks? originally appeared on NESN.
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The writing has been on the wall for over a year now, and it finally happened. The Bucks decided to move on from their franchise player and two-time MVP, shipping Giannis Antetokounmpo off to the Heat.
This trade will shake up the landscape of the NBA. Antetokounmpo made his 10th All-Star game last season, and at age 31, he still has a lot of gas left in the tank. He’s a consensus top-five player in the league as far as talent is concerned. The Heat clearly got better with this move.
Did they pay too big of a price, though? And did the Bucks get enough back in their return? Here’s how each team did in the biggest trade of the offseason.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo trade details
Heat receive:
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Bobby Portis
Bucks receive:
- Tyler Herro
- Kel’el Ware
- Jaime Jaquez Jr.
- Kasparas Jakucionis
- No. 13 pick in 2026
- Pick swap in 2030
- Unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033
- Second-round pick in 2033
Heat trade grade
Grade: C+
The Heat have been stuck in mediocrity for a while now. Antetokounmpo will undoubtedly get them out of the middle.
When you look at the surrounding cast that he had to work with in Milwaukee, the Heat have more stuff even after trading away so much depth. Keeping Bam Adebayo in this deal gives Miami two All-Defensive caliber players in the starting lineup.
Antetokounmpo is also still more than capable of spearheading an offense. He averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists while shooting a career-high 62.4 percent from the field in 36 games last season. He’s developed a killer midrange game over the past few seasons to go along with his unstoppable driving ability, and he’s an underrated passer.
Portis isn’t the guy he was during the Bucks’ championship run, but he can still provide some stretch shooting and scoring off the bench, replacing some of the depth that Miami lost.
The Heat are going to be a very good team in the East with a starting five of Antetokounmpo, Adebayo, Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins (who will likely accept his $30.2 million player option) and potentially Norman Powell if the team can re-sign him in free agency. They’re still behind New York and Boston, but they should be in the hunt for home-court advantage in the playoffs.
Is that outcome worth giving up so many of their young prospects and picks that have a chance to be excellent in 2030 and beyond? If I were in charge of the Heat, I’d say probably not. For 81-year-old team president Pat Riley and 76-year-old owner Micky Arison, the answer was a resounding yes.
Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Bucks trade grade
Grade: B+
The Bucks should have made this trade a year ago. Instead, they held onto Antetokounmpo for a miserable 2025-26 season, impacted their books through 2030 by waiving Damian Lillard in a desperation move to stay afloat and lost value by moving Giannis when he was a year older and had one less guaranteed season on his contract.
Putting those mistakes aside, this is not a bad haul for them. Herro is a good regular season player who will help keep them at least somewhat competitive. That is important because they don’t control their own picks through 2030 and have no reason to try and bottom out. Herro has looked worse in playoff settings where he has gotten attacked relentlessly defensively, but that won’t be as much of an issue for a Bucks team that is now far from contention.
The Bucks also added some nice blue chip prospects, and they can get a great player at No. 13. One of the Michigan three of Aday Mara, Yaxel Lendeborg or Morez Johnson Jr. should be available at that spot.
Ware is an intriguing two-way center with plus athleticism who has had focus issues in Miami. Jaquez is a talented scorer who was runner-up in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season. Jakucionis was selected with the No. 20 pick in last year’s draft and shot the ball well as a rookie guard. Ware (22 years old), Jaquez (25) and Jakucionis (20) give the Bucks a solid young core alongside Ryan Rollins (23), that No. 13 pick and Herro (26).
Milwaukee is going to take a step back with this trade. The Bucks were 15-31 in games that Antetokounmpo missed last season. Better chemistry, a new coach in Taylor Jenkins and the addition of Herro and others should boost that mark some. But they’re not replacing a top-five player in the league, and the Bucks are going to tread water until those potentially awesome future picks start conveying in 2030.
Once Antetokounmpo was at real risk of leaving in free agency next summer, the Bucks had to pull the trigger on a deal. Given that pressure, this was about as good of a return as they could have hoped for.
A Jaylen Brown-centered package, which was reportedly also on the table, would have provided a stronger team in the short term. But this is the package that gives them a brighter overall future.
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