The Milwaukee Bucks may hate it, but the Miami Heat may have the best (in-season) trade package for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
As NBA insider Jake Fischer points out, if the Bucks get to a point where they have to trade Giannis in-season, it's difficult to find a theoretical trade offer that would beat out the Heat's best. With the likes of the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Houston Rockets not expected to enter the Giannis sweepstakes, the Heat, having beat out the New York Knicks in this scenario, could have the best offer.
Of course, unless the Bucks want a package centered around Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and one future draft pick, which is as close to the best of an offer that the Knicks could make right now.
On the other hand, the Heat could offer the Bucks a flurry of young players and draft capital. It may not be the popular route, but trading Giannis to the Heat could be the best path forward for the Bucks (of course, this is all under the assumption that they would be forced to trade him before the deadline).
The Heat's best trade package for Giannis
Any trade offer from the Heat for Giannis would almost certainly begin with Tyler Herro and Kel'el Ware. We'll start there. After that, Miami could also throw in Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis to add some more intrigue.
To help out the Bucks with their salary situation, the Heat could also throw in Andrew Wiggins (to the Bucks or a third team) so the Bucks can get out from under the contracts of Kyle Kuzma or Bobby Portis.
Miami could then throw in two first-round picks and two pick swaps to sweeten the deal. If the Bucks wanted to prioritize draft capital, this is one of those deals that could be expanded to help Milwaukee find a path toward an additional pick or two.
While it may seem like the popular move to criticize the Heat's pursuit of Giannis, there's a world where this type of offer is the best one that Milwaukee is going to find in-season.
Then again, I suppose that also speaks to the idea that the Bucks may want to wait until the offseason to trade Giannis, but this entire situation may not be operating on their timeline.
It's not necessarily in his nature, but Giannis could just demand a trade in the next few weeks and totally change the Bucks' plans heading into the trade deadline.
And if that were to happen, it wouldn't be all that shocking if the Heat found themselves in the driver's seat to land the superstar forward. Fischer, one of the best insiders in all the sport, tends to agree.