Giannis Antetokounmpo could be on the move next season once again, and he could be returning to his original team.
Former NBA player DeMarcus Cousins predicted that he could “100% see” Antetokounmpo leaving the Miami Heat after the current season to return to the Milwaukee Bucks.
DeMarcus Cousins Sees Giannis Leaving Miami To Return To The Bucks
Speaking on FanDuel TV’s Run It Back show, Cousins made the prediction amid a highly scrutinized period for both Giannis and the Heat, who have struggled to start the 2026-2027 NBA season.
“100%. And it wouldn’t surprise me to see him go back to Milwaukee. For some reason, my gut is telling me that anyway,” Cousins, a former teammate of Giannis, said.
Prior to his departure, Giannis himself publicly admitted that Milwaukee would always remain in his heart and that he would love to return to the Bucks at the conclusion of his “cycle” with Miami. According to Cousins, that cycle might end much sooner than anyone anticipated.
“I don’t know anything. This is just my gut feeling. But Milwaukee has loaded up on young talent and assets, so I could see a return happening,” Cousins said. “It always felt like he never really wanted to leave Milwaukee. It was more a case of, “I kind of have to leave to spread my wings and see if I can find a better situation.” But I never felt like he truly wanted to leave Milwaukee. So a return there wouldn’t surprise me at all.”
Cousins has critiqued Miami’s current roster build, noting that the frontcourt dynamic between Giannis and Bam Adebayo is facing spacing issues similar to what he and Anthony Davis encountered early on with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Despite high championship expectations, the Heat opened their 2026-2027 campaign struggling to find continuity, suffering an early 1-4 stretch that fueled immediate speculation about Giannis’ long-term satisfaction in South Beach.
The Heat are now 2-5.
Giannis was traded from Milwaukee to Miami in July, ending a historic 13-year run with the Bucks, which saw him give the franchise its first NBA championship in nearly 50 years in 2021.
Giannis Gets Honest About Miami Heat’s Struggles To Start This Season
Giannis Antetokounmpo has been candid about the Miami Heat’s rocky 2-5 start. Giannis noted that the team is experiencing lapses in communication and energy.
“We’re not playing hard enough,” Antetokounmpo said after losing to the LA Lakers. “We’ve got to play hard. We’ve got to have some pride. We’ve got to have some pride, individual pride first of all. And then we’ve got to keep one another accountable and trust one another defensively. Right now, we don’t trust one another. We’re not giving that extra effort. We did it for two games, but we keep having bad habits creep up. Hopefully against the Clippers we can be better. Again, effort, individual pride, and trust. We’ve got to have those three things.”
“I can control my actions and what I do. Usually after a bad whopping like this, you’ve got to find a way to respond. I tend to respond. But it’s 17 players in this locker room. This is what I’m saying about accountability. We’ve got to make sure we set the tone and others follow it. We’ve got to do a better job and it starts with me, it starts with Bam, Andrew, and Davion. We’ve got to set the tone. The starting group, it’s almost like they’re going through the motions. We can be better.”
It is still early to predict what is next for the Heat and Giannis, but the Bucks should certainly be watching closely.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Predicted To Leave Miami, Return To The Bucks Next Year