After Giannis Trade, BetMGM Players Love Miami To Win the East In 2027

As you are probably aware, NBA champion and Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was traded to Miami late on Monday night. 

The decision to swap Giannis to South Beach brought a merciful close to the trade drama that’s been unraveling in Milwaukee over the last few years. The Bucks were increasingly bad, and Giannis was wasting valuable prime years on a team that didn’t have a prayer of competing for a championship.

To get Giannis, the Heat had to trade just about every last asset they had. Miami gave up Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez, Kasparas Jakucionis, the No. 13 pick in Tuesday’s draft, a first-round pick in 2031, first and second-round picks in 2033, and swap rights for 2030.

That’s basically everything but the Keys and Everglades, leaving Miami without much of a team right now. Bam Adebayo, Giannis, and Bobby Portis give Miami excellent size for 2026 – something that will really matter in potential matchups against the Pistons or Spurs – but it’s not clear what the rest of the team looks like. Miami’s bench is basically nonexistent, and its backcourt of Davion Mitchell and Norman Powell remains astonishingly average.

None of that appears to matter for bettors, who are counting on the star power of Antetokounmpo and Miami’s ability to attract free agent talent. The Giannis trade generated a monstrous swell of betting activity squarely focused on the Heat.

Monday morning, before the trade, Miami was 12-to-1 to win the East and 30-to-1 to win the 2027 NBA Finals. After the trade was announced, the Heat were adjusted down to +650 in the East and +1800 in the outright championship market.

At BetMGM, players are hitting these fresh Miami Heat odds pretty hard. While there was a spike in betting volume in the championship market, bettors actually preferred Miami in the Eastern Conference market, where 39% plurality of post-trade bets were all on the Heat. 

Overall, Miami now accounts for 23.4% of all Eastern Conference tickets in BetMGM’s NBA futures odds market, which is more than any other team. 

Miami Heat @ +2500 Miami Heat @ +900

In light of the huge betting interest in Miami, the BetMGM trading team has already posted a super early win total for the 2026-27 Heat. Miami checks in at 50.5 for next year.

Miami has won 51 games in a season just once since LeBron James left after the 2014 NBA Finals. And did I mention this team doesn’t have a bench yet?