Bucks GM: There would have been no Giannis deal without Heat's Jakucionis

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Jul 8, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

LAS VEGAS — With general manager Jon Horst addressing his team’s trade of Giannis Antetokounmpo for the first time in a media interaction, he made it clear the Milwaukee Bucks wanted it all from the Miami Heat.

In the wake of speculation that the Heat ultimately were bidding against themselves, Horst said it was made clear that there only would be a deal if the Heat sent out Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Kasparas Jakucionis and Jaime Jaquez Jr. The Heat sent out those four plus considerable draft capital to acquire Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis.

“We were very intentional about the players which we acquired from Miami,” Horst said, “all four of them. We were very specific about having them be part of this because we think it gives us a real chance to establish that and gives us a place to build from.

“Each player was primary for us. There was not a deal that we would have done that didn’t have each of these four players in it, including Kasparas. Miami valued them all as well, as they should.

So June 23, the agreement was reached.

“Our assessment,” Horst said, “was the ultimate opportunity we had with Miami was what was best for the Bucks organization now and going forward, and best for Giannis.

“This was, we truly believed, we’ve found an opportunity which is unique. We might be right. We might be wrong. But an opportunity where this is what’s best for him and what he wants to pursue going forward, and this is what’s best for us and what we want to pursue going forward. And that’s why we made the decision.”

Trade speculation had Jackusionis, taken at No. 20 by the Heat in the 2025 NBA draft, as a swing vote in delivering the deal to its conclusion.

“Specific to him and our excitement for him, listen, he’s a big guard, he’s a recent first-round pick from a Miami organization that I think does a great job in the draft,” Horst said in the media session that included Bucks beat reporters, Milwaukee broadcast outlets, ESPN and The Associated Press. “He is incredibly competitive, incredibly hard working, well-regarded by his college coaches, well-regarded by the (Lithuanian) national team, well-regarded from Miami folks. So, we’re excited about him. We’re excited about his positional size, we’re excited about his mentality, the pureness by which he plays the game. He plays the right way. He’s a table-setter. He’s a true point guard. He’s a very good shooter at a young age.

“He’s found a way to have a rotational impact on a Miami team last year, which means a lot for a coach in (Erik) Spoelstra who we have a lot of respect for. So we’re excited about him and excited to see him and get to know him more and see how he grows with us.”

The Heat are scheduled to go against Jakucionis and the Bucks in their Las Vegas NBA Summer League opener Friday, with Jakucionis added to Milwaukee’s summer roster after last week’s work with the Lithuanian national team.

In dealing Herro and Jaquez, the Heat moved off a pair of players eligible for extension, after bypassing an extension window with Herro in October.

“What that looks like in terms of extensions and next moves and things like that, that’s all the work that’s yet to be done,” Horst said when asked about the duo.

For now, the Bucks are addressing their Heat acquisitions as keepers with Horst referring to the quartet as “a package of competitive, age-appropriate, positional-size, high-IQ, talented basketball players on both sides of the floor.”

“I think Tyler and Kel’el and Jaime and Kasparas are exciting for us,” Horst said. “You’re literally checking kind of four different positions. They are all multi-positional, so I think it spans across the floor at five positions that these guys can play. I think you have ages that range from 20 to 26 with the group. There’s different contract situations and dynamics that give us flexibility and optionality. We did a lot of research, a lot of scouting, a lot of evaluation on this group of players that we identified and how they fit.”