The Boston Celtics have been tabbed as a team to keep an eye on in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, but getting a deal done may be difficult.
NBA insider Marc Stein called the Celtics a team to keep an "eye on" for Antetokounmpo on Monday. Antetokounmpo and co-owner Jimmy Haslam have both acknowledged that the two-time MVP's future in Milwaukee is uncertain. Antetokounmpo recently said, "We'll see," when asked if he would be with the Bucks next season.
There are a few hurdles to clear for Antetokounmpo to get traded, and the first one is whether he and the team want to part ways at all. He is extension eligible this year. If he does not want to stay and is traded, the Celtics make perfect sense as a landing spot. The Bucks would likely want Jaylen Brown in return, and there are rumors about the Celtics wanting to move on from him already. However, NBA insider Jake Fischer noted that a third team may need to be involved.
"If — and I want to stress that this is a hypothetical — any Brown-for-Antetokounmpo conversation actually does materialize in the future, multiple rival team strategists this week suggested that the likely appeal for Milwaukee, in addition to draft capital from the Celtics, would be to move Brown on or expand such a deal into a multi-team transaction," Fischer wrote.
According to Fischer, if the Bucks want Brown, it would not be to build around him, but rather to move him and gain even more assets to jumpstart a rebuild. That would make sense, because if the Bucks were interested in winning with what they have, they would simply do it with Antetokounmpo.
Antetkounmpo and Brown's futures will be worth monitoring in the offseason. Haslam has noted that he would like to figure out what the team's plan is with Antetokounmpo before the NBA Draft.
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