ESPN: Bucks and Heat reach framework to send Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami; deal not yet official

ESPN reported late Monday that the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat have agreed to a blockbuster trade framework that would send Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to Miami for Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakučionis and a package of draft picks. But as of early Tuesday, the deal had not been officially confirmed on the NBA’s transactions page, and no team press release announcing a completed trade was available.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who reported the agreement at 11:52 p.m. ET on June 22, the draft compensation heading to Milwaukee includes the No. 13 pick in Wednesday’s 2026 NBA draft, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2030 pick swap and a 2033 second-round pick. ESPN reported the trade is structured as a direct two-team deal, with no third club required, and that the Bucks and Heat plan to execute it July 6, when offseason business can be formally processed.

If completed as reported, the move would end one of the NBA’s defining player-team runs. Antetokounmpo has spent 13 seasons with Milwaukee after the Bucks selected him with the No. 15 pick in the 2013 draft. He developed into the face of the franchise, won two league MVP awards and led the Bucks to the 2021 NBA championship, earning Finals MVP while delivering Milwaukee’s first title since 1971.

ESPN also reported that Antetokounmpo and his agent, Alex Saratsis, had told Milwaukee from May 2025 through May 2026 that he wanted a trade, and that the Bucks had been working toward a resolution before the 2026 draft. ESPN said Bucks general manager Jon Horst and Heat general manager Andy Elisburg finalized the agreement Monday night. Earlier in the season, in comments ESPN cited after the report, Antetokounmpo had said that “if in six, seven months I change my mind, I think that’s human, too.”

The incoming package would give Milwaukee an established scorer in Herro, the 26-year-old guard who made the 2025 All-Star team, along with several younger pieces. Ware is a 7-foot center drafted No. 15 overall in 2024. Jaquez is a young wing-forward, and Jakučionis was Miami’s No. 20 pick in the 2025 draft. The mix of players and future draft assets signals a major reset for the Bucks around the departure of the player who defined the franchise for more than a decade.

Still, the procedural distinction is central: what existed early Tuesday was a reported agreement, not an officially posted NBA transaction. Neither the Bucks nor the Heat had issued a statement in the sourced material, and the league had not publicly processed the move. Until that happens, the framework reported by ESPN stands as a significant but not yet formally completed step in reshaping two Eastern Conference franchises.