It finally happened. After years of speculation and rumors, the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade saga and his tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks have come to an end. After spending more than a decade with the franchise and leading them to their first championship in over 50 years, he is now on the move.

After repeated disappointments since their 2021 championship triumph, it seemed more and more likely that the Greek Freak would get traded. Now, after a lengthy saga, the two-time NBA MVP is getting traded to the Miami Heat.

For the past year, the noise about a potential trade was getting louder. NBA insiders even confirmed that he’d demanded a trade from the organization at one point, but nothing came to pass at February’s trade deadline.

Now, in the days leading up to the 2026 NBA Draft, momentum picked up on a potential move, with the Heat and Boston Celtics emerging as the frontrunners for a deal. On Monday night, ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania confirmed that a trade was finally agreed upon.

“BLOCKBUSTER: The Milwaukee Bucks are trading franchise icon Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to the Miami Heat for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, 3 first-round picks (including No. 13), 1 pick swap and 1 second-rounder, sources tell ESPN,” he wrote on X.

The exact collection of draft capital includes this year’s No. 13 overall pick and first-rounders from 2031 and 2033, alongside a pick swap in 2030 and a 2033 second-round pick. No other teams are included in the deal, as it remains a straight-up deal between the two franchises. The trade will officially go through on July 6.

Soon after the announcement, Charania broke down what the trade meant for both sides. For Miami, he wrote, “Heat president Pat Riley now makes his long-anticipated new landmark acquisition, with Antetokounmpo joining elite Miami pickups such as LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Bosh, Alonzo Mourning and Jimmy Butler over the past 30-plus years. Riley will pair the two-time NBA MVP and 2021 Finals MVP with Bam Adebayo to lead contention in the Eastern Conference.”

On the Bucks’ side of things, the idea behind the trade was more direct: “After informing teams that they were open for business at the NBA draft combine in May, Bucks general manager Jon Horst landed a haul with the Heat’s offer that brings high-level starting/rotation players and young talent, as well as significant draft capital.”

For most NBA observers, the move was a long time coming. After essentially a year of back-and-forth, fans had grown tired of the entire ordeal, and with it finally coming to an end, Esfandiar Baraheni of The Athletic exclaimed, “THE SAGA IS OVER!!!!!”

Another influencer shared his sentiment, adding, “Never thought I’d see the day,” while Brad Rowland, too, joined in, “the longest trade saga in recent memory comes to an end.”

But the move has finally come to fruition, even though it was a race to the finish line. As Charania would later confirm, “The Celtics aggressively pursued Giannis, offering Milwaukee a package featuring 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown and two first-round picks, sources tell ESPN. The Bucks seriously negotiated with two finalists in recent weeks: Miami and Boston, which were both on Antetokounmpo’s list of preferred destinations.”

As the dust settled on the trade, fans were quick to look ahead to the upcoming NBA season. One content creator wrote, “Now the Heat will potentially look like: PG: Davion Mitchell, SG: Norman Powell (if they re-sign), SF: Andrew Wiggins, PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo, C: Bam Adebayo. Best team in the east?”

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While Miami has an elite starting five, the big question mark for the Heat will be their depth given the pieces they had to send to Milwaukee. Previously, the vaunted Heat Culture and their ability to find diamonds in the rough deep in the draft have come to their rescue. Now, they’ll try to replicate their success as they try to capitalize on the remaining years of Antetokounmpo’s prime.

For some NBA observers, it didn’t take long for the jokes to start flowing.

One New York Knicks influencer joked, “Giannis wanted to be a Knick but the champs said ‘there’s no room at the inn.'”

“The Bucks made the trade with the team less likely to do anything with it lol. Bam doubled that 3-point attempt rate this season to prepare to play with Giannis,” The Athletic’s Law Murray wrote.

Phoenix Suns beat writer Kellan Olson wasn’t willing to let the Bucks walk away unscathed. “The most expected outcome for the Giannis saga was the Bucks eventually taking the deal they probably had on the table two months ago,” he noted.

The Heat have been a perennial playoff team this decade, with two trips to the NBA Finals. Adding Antetokounmpo should take them over the hump, at least on paper. However, the injury concerns have been real for the former Defensive Player of the Year, which will make it tough to determine the true ceiling of this new-look roster.

The Milwaukee Bucks are trading superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to the Miami Heat for Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks (including the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft), one pick swap and one second-round pick, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

Antetokounmpo has played 13 NBA seasons, all with the Bucks. Portis has played for Milwaukee since the 2020-21 season.

Herro, who starred for the Kentucky Wildcats for one season, has played seven NBA seasons, all for the Heat.

Ware, who played one season for the Indiana Hoosiers, has played two seasons for the Heat.

Jaquez was in his third season for Miami. Jakucionis is a rookie.

The Heat and Bucks will execute the deal on July 6, according to Charania, who added that the Heat are sending unprotected first-rounders in 2031 and 2033 along with the No. 13 pick to Milwaukee, a pick swap in 2030 and a 2033 second-rounder.

Charania added that the Boston Celtics aggressively pursued Giannis, offering Milwaukee a package that included 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown and two first-round picks.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Giannis Antetokounmpo trade | Bucks get Tyler Herro, others from Heat

Wings' Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd reach new milestone together in 112-110 win originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Dallas Wings are still going to have to figure out how the whole picture fits together with Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, the WNBA's two most recent No. 1 overall draft picks.

On Monday night, though, it looked about as good as it has so far.

The Wings needed overtime, but in the end, they outdid the Seattle Storm in a 112-110 win.

Bueckers led the way with 27 points. She was 12-for-23 from the floor, including 3-for-6 from 3-point range. Bueckers didn't get to the foul line, but she did have five rebounds, five assists and a steal.

Paige played 38 minutes, but it was Fudd out there for a whopping 42 minutes.

In that span, Azzi went for 26 points on 11-for-17 shooting, including 2-for-5 from 3-point range, along with 2-for-2 at the foul line. 

Fudd added three rebounds, two assists and an impressive four steals.

The Wings had three others in double figures, with Aziaha James next up at 18.

Clearly, for Dallas to reach some of its growing season goals, Bueckers and Fudd will have to keep playing like this. 

It's easier said than done, but it's on nights like this where the blueprint makes sense.

Paige and Azzi work well together, and the Wings want to see that show itself on the court.

If it looks like it did against the Storm, Dallas will have one of the best backcourt plans in the WNBA to keep moving forward and getting better.

MORE: Marina Mabrey ties an incredible WNBA record

With NBA and NHL teams now laser-focused on offseason business, Scripps Sports — with local rights to five hockey teams and one basketball team — is in acquisition mode. Scripps already locked up the Pistons last month and was in the running for the Heat. “We have a business model that’s working really well for us ... in markets that we’re already doing business where we have typically an NBC, ABC, CBS or Fox station,” Scripps Sports President Brian Lawlor said. “We’re in 40-something markets. There’s still other NHL and other NBA markets that check that box, and we’ve gotten a lot of calls from other teams that aren’t in our in markets [where] we might own an ION but we don’t own like an ABC, NBC, CBS.”

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This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: With NBA and NHL teams now laser-focused on offseason …