Greg Cote: No Giannis (yet), but Heat hope it's a dream deferred, not dead

Greg Cote, Miami Herald on Feb 6, 2026

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MIAMI — It is almost but not quite right to say Thursday’s NBA trade deadline proved to be much ado about nothing for the Miami Heat.

More accurate to call it much ado about nothing ... yet.

For the Heat it’s been all about working a trade for Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Thursday that became a dream deferred, not dead.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported three hours before the 3 p.m. in-season trade deadline that Milwaukee had told interested teams that they will keep Antetokounmpo through the deadline and “start making other trades.” In pro hoops circles, if a sentence begins, “Shams says,” what follows is taken as gospel.

Sure enough, the Bucks made a move Thursday after saying they would, albeit a minor one, sending Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey to the Phoenix Suns in a three-team trade (also featuring the Chicago Bulls) and acquiring Ousmane Dieng and Nigel Hayes-Davis.

What follows Milwaukee’s stand-pat-for-now decision from here is full of intrigue and possibility.

It could mean the Bucks will spend the rest of this season trying to convince the “Greek Freak” they want him to stay and can build another championship team around him. Thursday’s minor deal could have been a step toward that.

But it could also mean, perhaps more likely, that Milwaukee is simply putting off trading Antetokounmpo, 31, until this coming summer in the hopes trade offers for him will sweeten.

NBA stars such as James Harden, Anthony Davis, Chris Paul and Trae Young were among those traded before Thursday’s deadline — but Giannis was the grand prize among all the players thought to be available.

Miami and the Minnesota Timberwolves have been the main contenders for Antetokounmpo, although waiting ‘til summer could mean additional suitors may appear. Golden State was thought to also be very interested but may have withdrawn from the Giannis Sweepstakes on Wednesday night by trading Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to Atlanta for veteran center Kristaps Porzingis.

Kuminga had been a main piece in Golden State’s trade package to get Antetokounmpo. But might Porzingis now be instead?

Waiting until summer will allow teams’ trade offers to change, to get better. For example, Miami’s offer — thought to include Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, its two available first-round draft picks and more — could add a third first-round pick by this summer.

The situation is fluid, but the bottom line is Miami remains at or near the front of the line if Milwaukee’s willingness to trade their 6-11 superstar continues into this summer.

In addition to a solid offer that could get better, Antetokounmpo and the Heat’s Bam Adebayo share the same agent, and the two players are friends. Giannis wanting to play alongside Bam works in Miami’s favor.

The Heat also has been linked to an interest in Memphis’ available Ja Morant, but Miami getting Antetokounmpo is a clear priority. They ought not let an eventual acquisition of Morant mess with that in any way. The Heat should not spend a dime on Morant — not in players or picks — if it lessens their power to get Giannis this summer.

The Heat were the only Eastern Conference team to not make a deal before the deadline, but that’s OK. It underlined, for me, that Giannis remains unequivocally the priority.

This is not the first time Miami has made a play for Milwaukee’s big man but it is the first time it’s seemed this close. The past week-plus has been exciting for Heat fans as the team acquiring its biggest star since LeBron James came in 2010 grew from possibility closer to likelihood.

Heat fans chanted “We want Giannis!” at a home game this week. The Miami-based Dan Le Batard Show has had a countdown clock — in minutes and seconds — winding down to the trade deadline when, they presumed, the Giannis and Heat marriage would happen.

The Heat have been and are smart to go hard after Antetokounmpo right into this summer. It is a frank admission on Pat Riley’s part that his team is good, not great. That his team is a playoff contender, not a championship contender.

Giannis would make Miami that.

Thursday felt like a letdown, then, felt anti-climactic. But if it’s a dream deferred, not dead, it only means the anticipation has a few more months to grow.