The Milwaukee Bucks selected two players in Tuesday's NBA Draft while a trade that would send Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat remained pending and not yet official.
According to ESPN, Bucks general manager Jon Horst declined to discuss specifics about the Giannis deal but repeatedly used the phrase "a theme of building" to describe the franchise's direction. Milwaukee drafted Michigan wing Brayden Burries and Nate Ament with its picks Tuesday night.
Horst's comments signal a significant shift for a franchise that spent the better part of the last decade built around Antetokounmpo, who won back-to-back MVP awards and led Milwaukee to an NBA championship in 2021. Trading the two-time MVP would mark the end of that era and the beginning of a full reconstruction.
The trade with Miami had not been made official as of Tuesday night. Horst did not provide a timeline or additional details while on the clock during the draft.
Burries and Ament now represent the first pieces of whatever Milwaukee builds next.
