The Giannis Antetokounmpo trade is two days old and already showing signs of a second life.
NBA insider Brian Windhorst said on ESPN this week that the Bucks could move Tyler Herro again before training camp, though the current plan is to keep him. The qualifier matters. “Plan” is not the same as a commitment, and front offices change plans every time the phone rings.
Here is the setup. The Bucks shipped Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to the Miami Heat for Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks including the No. 13 selection, one pick swap, and a second-round pick. By volume, it was the biggest trade of the summer. By outcome, the jury is still out.
Herro is the most movable piece in the package. He is a 26-year-old All-Star guard with a real contract, a track record of postseason scoring, and a hometown connection to Milwaukee that helped sell the trade publicly. He also fits the profile of the player championship contenders call about all summer.
The Pistons have already been linked. Per Heavy.com, Detroit reached out to gauge the Bucks’ stance on a Herro deal and was told Milwaukee would listen but is not committed to moving him. That is front-office speak for “make us an offer.”
The reality for the Bucks is they are not winning anything next year. They went 32-50 last season, finished outside the playoffs, and just traded the most talented player in franchise history. The smart play is to keep collecting assets and let the rebuild breathe.
Herro at his peak value, on a contract that runs through 2027, is exactly the kind of asset you flip while the demand is hot. Hold him into the season and he gets hurt, the team loses, and the trade market cools off.
The counterargument is the fan base. The Bucks just told Milwaukee, “We traded Giannis, but here is a local kid to root for.” Flipping Herro two months later would be a brutal message to a fan base already bracing for years of losing. The marketing department would not survive the press conference.
Windhorst’s reporting is the version that splits the difference. The Bucks will hold Herro through the summer, see what the season looks like, and only move him if a contender offers something the front office cannot turn down. That is a perfectly reasonable position.
The other piece to watch is Kel’el Ware. The 21-year-old big has real upside, and the Bucks might value him more than the league does. If Milwaukee gets attached to Ware as a long-term piece, the rebuild has a foundation. If they treat him as another trade chip, the front office is just spinning assets.
For now, Herro is a Buck. By the time training camp opens, that might not be true anymore. The Antetokounmpo trade was supposed to close a chapter. Instead, it might just be the opening scene of a much longer story.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
