MILWAUKEE — For more than a decade, Giannis Antetokounmpo was the face of the Milwaukee Bucks, lifting the franchise back into prominence and delivering its first championship in 50 years. Now, the Bucks must find a way to move forward without him.
On the eve of Tuesday’s NBA Draft, Milwaukee agreed to trade Antetokounmpo and forward Bobby Portis to the Miami Heat. In return, the Bucks will receive Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware, and Kasparas Jakucionis, according to a source who spoke to The Associated Press under the condition of anonymity, as the deal had not yet received the required league approval.
Milwaukee will also receive the No. 13 pick in Tuesday’s draft, a first-round pick swap in 2030, first-round selections in 2031 and 2033, and a second-round pick in 2033, the source added.
The trade marks the departure of one of the most cherished figures in Wisconsin sports history. Bucks fans watched Antetokounmpo grow over 13 seasons from a lanky 18-year-old from Greece — selected 15th overall in the 2013 draft — into one of the premier players in the world. He leads the Bucks in virtually every major career statistical category, including points, rebounds, assists, blocks, games played, and minutes.
Antetokounmpo claimed MVP honors in both 2019 and 2020. In the 2021 playoffs, he returned from a painful knee hyperextension to put up 50 points in the title-clinching Game 6 win over the Phoenix Suns, earning NBA Finals MVP recognition in the process.
The 31-year-old had signed multiple contract extensions to remain in one of the NBA’s smaller markets. His loyalty was celebrated by the city — a mural measuring 53½ feet high and 56½ feet wide was painted on the side of a three-story building in downtown Milwaukee in his honor.
Despite aggressive moves to keep Antetokounmpo surrounded by talent and the team in championship contention, Milwaukee never advanced past the second round of the playoffs after that 2021 title. Injuries to Antetokounmpo and other key contributors played a significant role. The Bucks just finished a 32-50 season — their worst in years — snapping a streak of nine consecutive playoff appearances.
Those bold roster moves to stay competitive will now complicate the rebuilding process. Even after this trade brought back some draft capital, Milwaukee still has no first-round picks in 2027 or 2029.
The franchise gave up multiple first-round selections in the 2020 trade for Jrue Holiday and the 2023 deal that brought Damian Lillard to Milwaukee. Holiday was a key contributor to the 2021 championship before being dealt in the Lillard trade. Lillard was later released after tearing his Achilles in a first-round playoff loss to Indiana in 2025 — a move that freed up money to sign former Pacers center Myles Turner.
With those gaps in their draft pipeline, it becomes critical that the Bucks make the most of their two lottery picks on Tuesday — the 10th and 13th overall selections. The 10th pick is their highest selection since 2016, when they also picked 10th and chose Thon Maker.
Guard Ryan Rollins, who turns 24 next month, is viewed as a potential cornerstone going forward. There’s also hope that a new coaching staff can unlock more from Turner, whose output dipped during his first year in Milwaukee.
New Bucks head coach Taylor Jenkins acknowledged that the possibility of a Giannis trade was part of the conversation when he took the job in April after Doc Rivers’ departure.
“Naturally, we did talk about Giannis, the entire roster, developmental pathways for everyone you know, moving forward,” Jenkins said at his introductory press conference last month. “Because from the coaching lens, I’ve got to start formulating that, what we’re going to do, not just this offseason, but when we hit the ground running, you know, at the start of training camp. So naturally, (we) talked about that. Had great dialogue, full transparency.”
The incoming players offer the Bucks a younger foundation. Herro, 26, is a Milwaukee-area native and 2025 All-Star who has averaged at least 20 points per game in each of the past four seasons, though injuries held him to just 33 games in 2025-26. Jaquez, 25, averaged 15.4 points per game off the bench this past season. Ware is a 22-year-old, 7-foot center. Jakucionis, 20, was selected 20th overall in last year’s draft.
Still, this is a seismic shift for a franchise that had considered itself a genuine title contender as long as a healthy Antetokounmpo was on the court. He finished fourth or higher in MVP voting every year from 2019 through 2025 before injuries limited him to just 36 games this past season — a career low.
The Bucks have endured lean stretches before. They reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2001 but didn’t win another playoff series until returning to that stage in 2019.
Long-tenured Bucks fans also remember the last time a generational superstar left town. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — then known as Lew Alcindor — led Milwaukee to the 1971 NBA title and another conference championship in 1974 before requesting a trade. The Bucks sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 1975, and the franchise wouldn’t reach the NBA Finals again until that 2021 championship run.
Now, the player most responsible for ending that 50-year title drought is also heading out the door.
