Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis Traded to Miami
Two-time MVP traded as team starts rebuilding effort.
Giannis Antetokounmpo. Photo by David Bernacchi.
The Giannis Antetokounmpo era in Milwaukee is over.
The Milwaukee Bucks are trading the two-time Most Valuable Player and fan favorite Bobby Portis to the Miami Heat in a blockbuster deal that launches the Bucks into a full-scale rebuild.
Milwaukee will receive four players: guard Tyler Herro, center Kel’el Ware, forwards Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakučionis. The Bucks will also acquire the 13th selection in Tuesday night’s NBA Draft, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, and the right to swap first-round picks with Miami in 2030 and a 2033 second-round pick.
The trade ends Antetokounmpo’s 13-season run with the only NBA franchise he has known. The Bucks selected the relatively unknown Greek prospect with the 15th pick in the 2013 draft.
He developed into the greatest player in franchise history, winning back-to-back MVP awards in 2019 and 2020 and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2020. His defining achievement came in 2021, when he scored 50 points in the championship-clinching victory over the Phoenix Suns and delivered Milwaukee its first NBA title in 50 years.
Portis, who joined the Bucks before the championship season, became one of the team’s most popular players and a key member of its rotation. He featured prominently in Visit Milwaukee advertising and was known as The Mayor.
The breakup between Antetokounmpo and the Bucks comes after the team struggled to find success after the 2021 title. The team only made it to the second round of the playoffs once after the title. On an annual basis, the team’s playoff appearances would be derailed by injuries to Khris Middleton (2022), Antetokounmpo (2023 and 2024) and Damian Lillard (2025). The team consistently cashed in future assets in an attempt to win now, but ended last year with the worst record since Antetokounmpo’s rookie year. Antetokounmpo expressed a desire to compete for a championship, which, given the Bucks’ lack of future draft picks and talent, seemed unlikely to happen in Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo, 31, now joins star center Bam Adebayo and coach Erik Spoelstra in Miami. He is entering the final guaranteed season of his contract and is expected to eventually sign a long-term extension with the Heat. Under NBA rules, he will become eligible for a four-year, approximately $275 million extension six months after the trade becomes official.
The focus in Milwaukee immediately shifts to Tuesday night’s draft. The Bucks already hold the 10th overall selection and will now also control the 13th pick, giving the team two opportunities to add young, high-end talent.
Herro, a Wisconsin native and former Whitnall High School standout, is the most accomplished player coming to Milwaukee. He is a proven scorer, though the Bucks could explore another trade rather than make the 26-year-old guard the centerpiece of a long rebuild.
Ware and Jaquez provide younger building blocks, while the distant and unprotected Miami draft picks could become valuable if the Heat decline later in the decade.
The trade, under league rules, cannot be finalized until July 6.
New coach Taylor Jenkins will now lead a substantially different team. After years of trading draft picks and young players to maximize Antetokounmpo’s championship window, the Bucks’ next task is clear: build the franchise’s post-Giannis future.
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