The Celtics considered making a franchise-rattling move ahead of February’s trade deadline, according to a report from one prominent NBA insider.
ESPN’s Shams Charania on Monday reported Boston was among several teams that “pursued” two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo before the deadline.
The details of the Celtics’ midseason pursuit were unclear (level of interest, proposed return, etc.), and it ultimately went nowhere. Antetokounmpo remained with the Milwaukee Bucks, and the C’s made a few less drastic alterations to their roster, swapping Anfernee Simons for Nikola Vucevic and remaking the end of their bench to duck beneath the luxury tax line.
Now, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has a chance to craft another bid for the superstar power forward. The Bucks are “open for business” on Antetokounmpo offers, per Charania’s sources, and his prior suitors’ “finishes to the campaign will play a major factor in their aggressiveness to trade for him.” Reports from Marc Stein and The Athletic’s Sam Amick also have linked the Celtics to The Greek Freak.
As they digest their first opening-round playoff exit since 2021 — a 3-1 series collapse against the Philadelphia 76ers that left Stevens “pissed” and vowing offseason improvement — should the Celtics make a bold play for one of the NBA’s premier talents? Does adding Antetokounmpo — and potentially giving up a cornerstone player to acquire him — make sense for this team?
Let’s break it down:
Case for: When healthy, Antetokounmpo is one of the two or three best basketball players on Earth. He made first-team All-NBA and finished top-four in MVP voting in each of the last seven seasons (not including this one). As great as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are, the Celtics haven’t had a player of that caliber on their roster in decades.
Case against: He wasn’t often healthy this season. Knee, ankle, adductor and, most notably, calf injuries limited Antetokounmpo to 36 games for Milwaukee. Would he have played more if the Bucks weren’t bound for the lottery? Most definitely. He claimed in April that he was being held out despite being healthy enough to play. But persistent leg issues for a borderline 7-footer who will turn 32 early next season certainly qualify as a red flag.
Case for: Injuries weren’t a major problem for Antetokounmpo in previous years. He won’t be playing 82 games a season at this point in his career, but it’s worth noting that he made more regular-season appearances from 2020-21 to ’24-25 (331) than Brown did (324).
Case against: Antetokounmpo’s skill set could be viewed as an awkward fit for Joe Mazzulla’s offensive system. He doesn’t shoot many 3-pointers (2.2 per game in his career) and doesn’t shoot them especially well (28.5%). He made 33.3% of his threes this season, and that was his best mark since his rookie year.
Case for: Maybe that’s a good thing, given how that approach failed Boston in each of its last two playoff runs. Stevens stressed the need for changes in his end-of-season news conference, specifically mentioning a desire to “have more of an impact at the rim.” Few players would add more in that area than Antetokounmpo, who’s been one of the best at attacking the basket for the last decade. Since his breakout season in 2016-17, here’s where he has ranked in made field goals inside five feet per game: second (behind LeBron James), first, first, second (behind Zion Williamson), second (behind Williamson), first, first, first, first, first.
Case against: Acquiring Antetokounmpo wouldn’t be cheap, in terms of both salary commitment and trade compensation. He’s set to earn $58.5 million next season and has a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28 (with an extension likely coming from whichever team lands him). To take on a salary that large, the Celtics would essentially have two options: include Tatum or Brown in the trade, or package Derrick White together with Sam Hauser and/or Payton Pritchard. There surely will be a slew of other teams bidding for the 10-time All-Star, as well, so it’ll take a compelling offer to land him. A return of Brown and draft capital, potentially with a third team involved, would be the most logical trade structure — though that would mean cutting ties with a decade-long Celtic who’s coming off a career-best season.
Case for: The Bucks plan to work with Antetokounmpo to find a desirable landing spot for their franchise icon, and the Celtics check a lot of his reported boxes. The Athletic reported he would prefer to stay in the Eastern Conference (check) and join a contending team (check, despite this year’s first-round flop). Antetokounmpo also is a big Mazzulla fan. Late this season, he gave the Celtics head coach an unprompted shoutout in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, saying he wants to be part of a winning culture like the one Mazzulla has fostered in Boston.
Case against: Antetokounmpo’s Bucks teams have consistently disappointed since the franchise won it all in 2021. They lost to the Celtics in seven in the 2022 East semifinals, then experienced three straight first-round exits (two as the higher seed) before missing the playoffs this season.
Case for: The Celtics haven’t exactly been postseason sensations of late. Of course, they bulldozed their way to a championship in 2024. But three of their last four seasons ended with losses to heavy underdogs (Miami in 2023, New York in ’25, Philadelphia in ’26). The 76ers team that just upset the Celtics was promptly vaporized by the Knicks in the next round, losing all four games by a combined 89 points. Boston, as Stevens made clear in his comments last week, was not close to winning a championship this season. He now must decide whether the best path forward is adding around the margins of the Celtics’ high-floor, Tatum/Brown-led core — a group that’s rattled off five consecutive 50-win seasons — or shaking up that established nucleus by swinging for a rare talent like Antetokounmpo.