Following months of speculation, the Milwaukee Bucks have finally ended the Giannis Antetokounmpo era by agreeing to trade him to the Miami Heat. Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis are both headed to the Heat, which in turn means the last remnants of that great title-winning 2020-21 team are on their way out.
Here’s a look at all those players who helped end Milwaukee’s 50-year NBA title drought.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: Miami Heat
Khris Middleton: Free Agent
Jrue Holiday: Portland Trail Blazers
Brook Lopez: Los Angeles Clippers
Donte DiVincenzo: Minnesota Timberwolves
Bobby Portis: Miami Heat
Sam Merrill: Cleveland Cavaliers
Pat Connaughton: Charlotte Hornets
Thanasis Antetokounmpo: Free Agent
Jordan Nwora: Crvena zvezda
Bryn Forbes: Ramnicu Valcea
Mamadi Diakite: Saski Baskonia
Axel Toupane: FC Porto
Elijah Bryant: Hapoel Tel Aviv
Justin Jackson: Free Agent
Jeff Teague: Retired
P.J. Tucker: Retired
The roster turnover is incredible. Very few of these players are even going to be playing in the NBA next season. Jordan Nwora, Bryn Forbes, Mamadi Diakite, Axel Toupane, and Elijah Bryant have all had to go overseas to continue their careers.
Antetokounmpo obviously won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, and he was the driving force of that championship team. He averaged 35.2 points in the NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns and famously scored 50 points in the closeout Game 6. Antetokounmpo was named Finals MVP, and he was on top of the world at that point.
Khris Middleton was Antetokounmpo’s sidekick, and he was great against the Suns, too. Middleton averaged 24.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game in the series. He, unfortunately, is now a shell of the player he once was and is set to hit free agency after spending last season with the Washington Wizards and the Dallas Mavericks.
Middleton will get picked up by some team, but his days of being a key contributor on a contending team are over. The same can’t be said about Jrue Holiday, the third member of what you could call a Big 3.
Holiday struggled a bit offensively against the Suns, averaging 16.7 points on 36.1% shooting from the field, but made one of the biggest defensive plays of the series. He stole the ball from Devin Booker as he was looking to give the Suns the lead late in Game 5, and continues to be a fine defensive player today. Holiday was with the Portland Trail Blazers last season and isn’t going anywhere.
Brook Lopez was another starter for the Bucks, and he was tasked with blocking shots and knocking down threes. That’s pretty much the case even today. Lopez was a starter for the Los Angeles Clippers in the second half of last season and continues to provide value despite being 38 years old.
P.J. Tucker was the fifth starter, and he was the 3-and-D specialist. Tucker only averaged 4.0 points per game in the Finals, but defended at a very high level. He was already pretty old back then and officially retired on May 7, 2026, aged 41.
Portis and Pat Connaughton led the bench unit for the Bucks, and they’re still hanging around today. The former will be with Antetokounmpo on the Heat, while the latter is on the Charlotte Hornets.
As for other notable names, Jeff Teague has become a very successful podcaster post-retirement. Thanasis Antetokounmpo is into podcasting as well, but he was on the Bucks last season. If the 33-year-old wants to keep playing, expect him to join his brother in Miami.
Donte DiVincenzo is very much active, but he might not be playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves next season. DiVincenzo tore his Achilles tendon in the 2026 playoffs and is out indefinitely.
Lastly, we get to Sam Merrill, who just had the best season of his career. Merrill averaged 12.8 points for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2025-26 and will be hoping to thwart Antetokounmpo in his quest to win another title.
All in all, that was a pretty special Bucks team, and it’s a shame they never got to that big stage ever again. If they had, Antetokounmpo might still have been suiting up for the franchise next season.
