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NBA executives told insider Marc Stein they believe the Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler and Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo are two candidates for the league’s next blockbuster trade.
Butler has a $53 million player option for the 2025-26 season, but could still choose to enter free agency next spring. Stein reported that uncertainty has led “a variety of executives” to name the Heat star as a potential trade candidate.
According to Stein, Antetokounmpo’s name was also mentioned, although the NBA insider described that as “wishful thinking from teams hoping — as teams have in the past — that the Bucks unravel to the point that the two-time MVP eventually decides to force his way out.”
Stein’s report comes less than a week after the NBA’s last marquee trade, which sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks and Julius Randle to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Antetokounmpo signed a three-year, $186 million extension last season. The deal locks him in through at least next two seasons, followed by a $62.8 million player option for the 2027-28 campaign.
There has been speculation surrounding Antetokounmpo’s future with the Bucks following the team’s run to the 2021 title, as Milwaukee failed to make it past the second round in three tries.
The Bucks have only embarked on one playoff run since their 2023 trade for former Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard, however, and both Lillard and Antetokounmpo were hurt for at least portions of the club’s first-round exit last spring.
Milwaukee may need to make another run at the postseason, this time with both stars healthy, before Antetokounmpo decides this team can no longer contend for a championship.
Butler’s future is more in question after the six-time All-Star decided this offseason that he will not extend his contract ahead of his 2025-26 player option, Shams Charania reported in June for The Athletic.
Butler specified that he would not extend the deal with the Heat or any other team, per Charania. That means the Heat would receive a more limited return for trading him, which is something the team has “shown no interest in” anyway, according to Charania.
Stein’s report echoes a recent statement from ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, who said on the Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast that there are “eyes on Jimmy Butler” around the league as a potential marquee trade.
Given Butler’s reported decision not to sign an extension before his player option, any team making that deal would be giving up assets for a short-term rental with a history of injury issues. It sounds like a potential deal for the veteran Heat star is something NBA executives are keeping an eye out for despite those risks.
