As Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline looms, Miami continues efforts to acquire Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo while also continuing to be linked to Memphis guard Ja Morant.
ESPN reported that the Milwaukee front office and owners likely will need to decide by late tonight whether to trade him before the summer. No credible mainstream media has reported if the Bucks will or won’t trade him this week; that remains something of a mystery.
Please keep checking back for updates.
12:30 a.m.: ESPN’s Shams Charania reported early Thursday morning that the Golden State Warriors are out of the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes.
“This marks the unofficial end of the Warriors’ pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo, team sources said,” Charania reported. “The Warriors made several offers over the past week, but came away with the impression over the past 24 hours that the Milwaukee Bucks won’t be moving Antetokounmpo at the deadline and pivoted to other plans, sources said.”
The Warriors, Heat and Timberwolves were believed to be the three teams most aggressively pursuing a trade for Antetokounmpo this week. But now only the Heat and Timberwolves remain in the running, among those teams.
Instead, the Warriors pivoted to trade Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks for Kristaps Porzingis on Wednesday night.
According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, “The Warriors weren’t getting any communication from the Bucks about Giannis, so they opted for Kristaps Porzingis instead.”
4 p.m.: At this point, the Heat would be pleased to come out of the trade deadline with a single All Star caliber player. But would acquiring both Antetokounmpo and Morant be realistic?
As Thursday’s trade deadline looms, the Heat is believed to still be in the running for Antetokounmpo; that remains Miami’s unquestioned priority.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said it’s certainly possible that Milwaukee could take Miami’s offer, while cautioning that the Bucks might have an unreported appealing offer beyond reported bids from Minnesota, Miami and Golden State.
Meanwhile, Morant would like to play for the Heat or Minnesota, according to The Athletic, and the Heat and Grizzlies have had conversations. But Antetokounmpo is the Heat’s priority. But The Athletic also reported that the market for Morant “is shockingly low.”
The Heat might have enough assets to facilitate both trades. The question is whether the Heat’s offer for Antetokounmpo will be good enough for Milwaukee and whether the Heat would even want to have three players consuming more than 85 percent of its salary cap space next season.
Here are two hypothetical cap-compliant trades that would net the Heat both players, if the Bucks and Grizzlies agree to it:
1). Antetokounmpo trade: A team acquiring the two-time MVP, who’s making $54.1 million, must send out at least $43.5 million in salary.
Tyler Herro and Kel’el Ware (who are both known to be in the Heat’s package) as well as Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Simone Fontecchio – players with a combined $48.5 million in salary – would satisfy cap rules; Miami also likely would offer two first-round picks and up to three first-round pick swaps. That deal would leave Miami paying a luxury tax this season, which it hopes to avoid but hasn’t ruled out.
2). Morant trade: He’s earning $39.4 million this season, and if the Heat is going to take back more salary with Antetokounmpo, it likely cannot afford to do so for Morant.
So that would mean sending out similar money, which could be done with Terry Rozier, Davion Mitchell and Keshad Johnson – whose combined salaries are $40.1 million.
That deal would remove $42.1 million and $44.9 million from the Grizzlies books in 2026-27 and 2027-28, and leave only Mitchell’s $12.4 million 2026-27 salary on Memphis’ books after this season.
The Heat could do both of those cap compliant deals without even including Andrew Wiggins, who could be flipped for draft capital to enhance Miami’s offer for Antetokounmpo.
The pros and cons of doing both hypothetical deals (not just one):
THE PROS
▪ The Heat would be left with one of the top three players in the league (Antetokounmpo) and three of perhaps the 30 most talented players in the NBA, with Antetokounmpo, Morant and Bam Adebayo. That core, if healthy, could allow Miami to make a deep playoff run this season.
▪ Miami would be able to keep Norman Powell for at least the remainder of the season and would have at least six open roster spots, which could be filled with Myron Gardner, unsigned free agents and players bought out before March 1.
A lineup of Morant, Antetokounmpo, Larsson, Powell and Adebayo would be supplemented by a bench of Jovic, Smith, Jakucionis and other Febraruary additions.
▪ If Morant waives his 15 percent trade kicker, Miami would have $46 million below next year’s projected luxury tax line to fill out a roster, though that number shrinks to $30 million if Miami retains Nikola Jovic and $21 million if the Heat keeps Larsson, Smith and Jakucionis, who are all under contract next season and not in these hypothetical trades here.
THE CONS
▪ That last “pro” can also be presented as a con, because the Heat likely would not be able to afford to re-sign Powell this summer, particularly if it cannot dump Jovic, whose salary spikes from $4.4 million to $16.2 million next season.
In fact, Miami would have just $24 million under the tax line for seven players to supplement Antetokounmpo, Morant, Adebayo, Jovic, Larsson, Smith and Jakucionis.
That number would be less than $21 million if Morant insists on keeping his 15 percent trade kicker.
And if Wiggins surprisingly opts into a $30 million contract next season, the Heat would be a tax-payer and able to offer nothing but minimum deals to fill out its roster.
▪ That hypothetical 2026-27 Heat roster — with Adebayo, Antetokounmpo and Morant but without Powell — wouldn’t have nearly enough quality shooting. The onus would be on the scouting staff and front office to find cheap, skilled shooters, just as the Heat once did with Duncan Robinson when it signed him out of Michigan.
▪ This could blow up, because of Morant’s history of injuries and the concern with Antetokounmpo’s calf, which has sidelined him four times in the past two years, including an ongoing absence that’s expected to keep him out for a few more weeks.
Morant has never played more than 67 games in any of his six seasons because of injuries and suspensions. He has appeared in nine and 50 games the previous two seasons and just 20 this season, as he’s now sidelined by an elbow injury.
▪ Antetokounmpo ($58.4 million), Adebayo ($52 million) and Morant ($44.8 million) will combine to make $155.2 million next season, without Morant’s 15 percent trade kicker.
That’s not far below the projected $166 million salary cap, though the Heat could exceed the cap to fill out a roster and also could surpass the $201.7 million luxury tax line or even the $210.3 million first apron if it chooses to.
This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 4:46 PM.
Barry Jackson
Miami Herald
Barry Jackson has written for the Miami Herald since 1986 and has written the Florida Sports Buzz column since 2002.
