Ira Winderman: Interesting…amid uncertainly of whether the Heat will keep or trade No. 13 (in a possible Giannis Antetokounmpo deal), the Heat have announced a draft party June 23 at Kaseya Center, with the announcement saying,” Watch as Miami’s draft pick takes the stage” Details: — 6/6/2026 x.com
As much as the idea of Thunder splurging for Giannis to counter Wemby might make sense on paper, league sources with knowledge of the Thunder’s thinking continue to dismiss them as a legitimate Giannis Antetokounmpo suitor. The Thunder obviously have the draft capital and an abundance of talented young players to get Milwaukee’s attention, but it’s wise in times like these to consider Sam Presti’s history. Presti is hardly known for paying exorbitant trade costs to bolster his roster … let alone for an older newcomer like Antetokounmpo would be at 31. You’ll recall that Paul George was 27 — smack dab in the middle of his prime — when the Thunder acquired PG-13 from the Pacers without even sacrificing a draft pick in a swap that sent Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo to Indiana. — 6/6/2026 marcstein.substack.com
As much as the idea of Oklahoma City splurging for Giannis to counter Wemby might make sense on paper, league sources with knowledge of the Thunder’s thinking continue to dismiss them as a legitimate Giannis Antetokounmpo suitor. The Thunder obviously have the draft capital and an abundance of talented young players to get Milwaukee’s attention, but it’s wise in times like these to consider Sam Presti’s history. Presti is hardly known for paying exorbitant trade costs to bolster his roster … let alone for an older newcomer like Antetokounmpo would be at 31. You’ll recall that Paul George was 27 — smack dab in the middle of his prime — when the Thunder acquired PG-13 from the Pacers without even sacrificing a draft pick in a swap that sent Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo to Indiana. — 6/6/2026 marcstein.substack.com
The Defensive Player of the Year portion followed the same pattern. Lau had Rudy Gobert third, even though Gobert was the runaway consensus pick with 82.2 percent of the maximum possible score that season. Giannis Antetokounmpo and George rounded out the Top 3 among voters, and Lau picked neither. His Top 2, Draymond Green and Joel Embiid, did not crack the Top 3 of the award overall. Though the league is less punitive about outlier votes than you might expect, it goes without saying that was the final ballot Lau ever got for end-of-season NBA awards. — 6/5/2026 HoopsHype
With the Heat among the teams most aggressively pursuing a trade for Milwaukee Bucks two-time NBA MVP and nine-time All-NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason, Jaquez has been among the names speculated to be in Miami’s potential trade package for Antetokounmpo. Jaquez was also involved in trade rumors connected to the Heat’s pursuit of Damian Lillard during the 2023 offseason, but Lillard was ultimately dealt to the Bucks shortly after Jaquez was drafted by Miami with the 18th overall pick that summer. “I feel like it’s just the way it is being on a Miami Heat team,” Jaquez said from the NBA House in São Paulo on Friday afternoon during a Zoom call with reporters. “I think that it’s kind of normal. I’ve been here for what, three years now? And every summer there’s a big rumor. So I’ve kind of just gotten used to it. It’s nice to get out of the country and see new things, and Brazil is beautiful.” — 6/5/2026 Miami Herald
Tim Reynolds: Giannis Antetokounmpo spent “a few days” in South Florida this week for “off-court business including events related to the FIFA World Cup,” a person familiar with his plans tells us. — 6/5/2026 x.com
Heat Central: Giannis Antetokounmpo has questions about what the Heat roster would look like after a potential trade, per @sam_amick “The noise is tied to Miami but there’s also intel discussion that Giannis has questions about what that Miami roster would look like on the other side of a deal. You don’t want to gut your roster and go to the place you’re excited to be in and have a hard time contending for a championship” (h/t @dpshow ) — 6/5/2026 x.com
Oh No He Didn’t: “In speaking to someone that I know that works there they’ll say stuff like Giannis wants to stay in Milwaukee, Giannis wants to leave Milwaukee” – @BA_Turner — 6/5/2026 x.com
Dru Star: “The Heat thing is real. The Heat offer is real…it’s pretty player & pick heavy. Why that’s important is because the Bucks have indicated that if you’re going to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo, they want picks & players. This checks that box…I think to me that’s the best package.” @JimOwczarski — 6/4/2026 x.com
In the aftermath of their first-ever NBA Finals appearance since 1999, the New York Knicks can no longer be identified as a potential destination for Giannis Antetokounmpo. “They did make offers, but they felt the Bucks didn’t really want to move Giannis. The Bucks, meanwhile, felt the Knicks weren’t making strong enough offers to entertain trading Giannis,” Shams Charania of ESPN said as he joined Tracy McGrady’s Cousins podcast for a special Finals edition. “At the end of the day, they washed their hands of that situation. Now, they’re in the NBA Finals, and I think we can all safely say the Knicks are not going to be one of the teams Giannis will be on next season. There are going to be other destinations for that.” — 6/3/2026 BasketNews