Bucks owner resets window of opportunity for Heat, seeking Giannis closure by draft

Once teams are eliminated from the postseason, they immediately are eligible to resume the trade process for the first time since the February trade deadline, which now is the case for both the Heat and Bucks.

“I just think before the draft is a natural time,” Haslam said of a potential Antetokounmpo move. “Because if Giannis does play somewhere else, we’ve got to have a lot of assets.”

And that’s where draft timing also comes into play for the Heat.

Technically, the Heat cannot trade this year’s first-round pick, due to owning the Charlotte Hornets a first-round pick in either 2027 or ’28, and the NBA rule prohibiting being without first-round picks in successive future drafts. However, the Heat can make a pick for the Bucks on June 23 and then flip that selection to Milwaukee.

Further, once this year’s draft is complete, the Heat then can include their 2033 first-round pick in a potential trade package, with teams now allowed to trade first-round picks more than seven years out.

Unlike in February, when the Bucks still viewed themselves as potential postseason contenders under since-deposed coach Doc Rivers, an urgency has now entered the equation for the Bucks. While Antetokounmpo has two years and $121.2 million remaining on his contract, that includes a $62.7 million player option for 2027-28, effectively putting him on an expiring contract this coming season. Then there is the element of an extension window opening for Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee in October, with Haslam’s comments indicating a need to have such intention decided well in advance. If dealt, Antetokounmpo can sign a four-year, $275 million extension six months after being acquired, starting with a $76.1 million salary at age 35.

“If he’s here, then you build the team differently,” said Haslam, also owner of the Cleveland Browns and MLS Columbus Crew.

Haslam said it was made clear to Jenkins there was no guarantee Antetokounmpo would be on the Bucks’ roster next season, telling the former Memphis Grizzlies coach, “Listen, he may or may not be with us, so don’t come because of that.”

As with the Heat’s overtures in February, a pursuit of Antetokounmpo will not come in a bubble, with the Bucks forward having indicated interest in a possible relocation to New York, and with Golden State, Houston, Boston, Portland, Orlando, Atlanta and other teams also considered potential trade partners and landing sites.

In that regard, the Knicks element could come down to the success of the mix already in place, with New York the lone team among the aforementioned pursuers still alive in the playoffs, with a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals over the Philadelphia 76ers.

For their part, a Heat package again likely would be built off a base of Herro, Ware, prospects and draft picks and draft swaps.

Unlike in February, the question is whether that even would get the Heat to the front of the line.

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In the wake of postseason failures elsewhere, the competition could prove potentially overwhelming for Pat Riley, Andy Elisburg, Adam Simon and the rest of the Heat front office, particularly if the Celtics were to put Jaylen Brown into play, the Rockets to put Alperen Sengun into play, or the Magic to put Paolo Banchero into play.

Plus, because of the Heat owing the Hornets either a top-14 protected first-round pick in 2027 or an unprotected first-round pick in 2028, it has Heat first-round picks in 2027, ’28 and ’29 out of play, due to that rule preventing being without first-round picks in consecutive future seasons.

But what could bring the equation back in the Heat’s favor is if Antetokounmpo makes clear a preference of the Heat as a potential landing spot, with Haslam indicating a willingness to work out a preferred landing spot for the Greek big man.

“We’ll work through that with Giannis in the coming weeks,” Haslam said, with Antetokounmpo having been with the Bucks since he was selected at No. 15 in the 2013 NBA draft.

During a recent podcast with former Heat guard Goran Dragic, Antetokounmpo said, “Hey, Miami’s not a bad place, man. Beautiful, beautiful city, beautiful city. Beautiful city, believe it or not, believe it or not.”