The Bucks’ offseason has already stirred up plenty of noise, and not all of it is about the players actually in Milwaukee.
Gary Trent Jr.’s reported four-year, $64 million deal has drawn attention around the league, and ESPN’s Shams Charania said this week on the Shump Street with Iman Shumpert podcast that another team was “poking around” a sign-and-trade for Trent at “around the same number.” That said, there’s some missing context around the Bucks’ agreement.
Milwaukee’s deal is expected to be fully guaranteed, and it’s fair to wonder whether another team would have been willing to lock in four years for a wing coming off one of the roughest seasons of his career. A sign-and-trade suitor also may have been trying to shed an unwanted contract as part of the deal.
Tyler Herro, meanwhile, is already trying to turn the page on a messy chapter. In an interview with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, the new Bucks guard said he wants to “move on” from the trade that sent him out of Miami and the physical altercation he had with former Heat teammate Bam Adebayo in Las Vegas.
“Honestly, I’m just trying to move past all of it,” Herro told ESPN. “I’m focused on Milwaukee and building something special.
They obviously just traded the greatest player in their history, so we want to come in and help continue what they’ve been doing.” Shelburne reported that Herro also said he’s excited to represent his hometown team and indicated that, if he had to play for anyone other than the Heat, the Bucks would have been his pick.
Shelburne also added more detail on the Adebayo incident, citing sources who said Herro was not knocked to the ground by Adebayo’s blow and had to be “restrained by others in the gym from responding physically.” Heat sources told ESPN that Adebayo and Herro had a strong relationship in Miami before growing apart over the past year.
And one familiar face won’t be back. After six of the past seven seasons in Milwaukee, Thanasis Antetokounmpo is not returning to the Bucks for 2026/27.
Emmett Prosser of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Antetokounmpo said goodbye to the team and the city in a clip from his “Thanalysis” podcast. “I am grateful for everything from the bottom of my heart,” he said, speaking to Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
“Everything you gave to my family.”
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The challenge is bigger than simply replacing bodies. Miami will lean on returning players and a fresh crop of recruits to fill out both lines, and fall camp is where those pieces have to start looking like answers rather than placeholders. There is confidence in the room, but also a real test ahead: whether the Hurricanes can keep winning at the line of scrimmage while new starters learn fast enough to match the programs expectations. [Read more 🡒]