Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo has left the Milwaukee Bucks for the Miami Heat in a trade that reshapes the Eastern Conference, according to the BBC.
The deal sends Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to Miami, with Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Kasparas Jakucionis going to Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo, 31, was drafted by the Bucks in 2013 and won an NBA championship with the franchise in 2021. The Boston Celtics had also been linked with the Greek star before the deal was finalized.
His future in Milwaukee had grown uncertain after he publicly criticized the team's management last season for not clearing him to play following a left knee hyperextension. Speaking in April after the Bucks failed to reach the playoffs, Antetokounmpo said: "I feel like sometimes people just don't listen. They listen to the sources. The main source is me. It is what it is."
Heat president Pat Riley called it "one of the great trades" in the history of the franchise, which has won three NBA titles, in 2006, 2012, and 2013.
Elsewhere in the league, the Philadelphia 76ers confirmed the acquisition of Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics, along with the signing of free-agent guard Anfernee Simons. Philadelphia sent veteran forward Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks to Boston in exchange for Brown.
