{"id":747435,"date":"2026-06-19T20:49:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T20:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/747435\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T20:49:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T20:49:19","slug":"nba-insider-celtics-avoiding-elephant-in-the-room-in-giannis-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/747435\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA insider: Celtics avoiding elephant in the room in Giannis talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBoston Celtics\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJaylen Brown would reportedly need to be a part of any deal involving the Celtics landing Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\tGiannis Antetokounmpo AP Photo\/Aaron Gash\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTrading for Giannis Antetokounmpo makes a ton of sense, but here\u2019s why the Celtics shouldn\u2019t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCeltics columnist: Miami has the edge in Giannis Antetokounmpo chase\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The Celtics <\/a>are reportedly on the shortlist of teams to watch in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, and it\u2019s not exactly clear yet just how much Milwaukee would need to get back in return for the two-time league-MVP. <\/p>\n

According to The Athletic\u2019s Sam Amick<\/a>, Boston\u2019s interest in pursuing Antetokounmpo is largely based around a 1-for-1 swap of star players Antetokounmpo and the Celtics\u2019 Jaylen Brown.<\/p>\n

A deal without Brown in it is unlikely to be accepted by Milwaukee, and a deal that involves Brown plus additional compensation might be too steep of a price for Boston.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Celtics have gone to great lengths to avoid the elephant in the room here, but Jaylen Brown would need to be part of any deal for Antetokounmpo,\u201d Amick wrote. \u201cAnd if Boston had its way, the conversation would start and end there with a one-for-one swap of fellow All-Stars who are still in their respective primes (Antetokounmpo is 31; Brown is 29). Lest anyone forget, Brown is coming off his best season yet, finishing sixth in MVP voting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his status as a multi-time All-Star, there are questions as to whether Brown is widely viewed as a true No. 1 scoring option in the NBA. <\/p>\n

Brown led the Celtics to 56 wins while Jayson Tatum was out for most of the year rehabbing from offseason Achilles\u2019 tendon surgery, but the Celtics were eliminated by Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Whether Milwaukee sees Brown as someone worth constructing a team around isn\u2019t exactly clear, Amick said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unclear if the Bucks would look to build around Brown as a centerpiece, as many rival executives have recently predicted, or perhaps rebuild by sending him elsewhere for young players and picks,\u201d Amick wrote. \u201cWhichever path Milwaukee selects, it\u2019s widely believed that Brown alone wouldn\u2019t be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Brown being the younger player and a multi-time All-Star in his own right, it\u2019s not shocking that Boston would want to avoid giving up more assets in return for Antetokounmpo. <\/p>\n

But, the Celtics have fell to lower-seeded teams in the playoffs in three out of the last four postseasons. They were competitive in all three series that they lost. <\/p>\n

How much would they be willing to pay if they believe adding Antetokounmpo would push them over the top?<\/p>\n

\u201cBoston could add up to three future first-round picks in the deal, and the fact that Antetokounmpo is known to be comfortable signing an extension with the Celtics should compel them to go all-in,\u201d Amick wrote. \u201cAfter all, Antetokounmpo is a champion, two-time MVP and former NBA Defensive Player of the Year whose overall body of work far exceeds Brown\u2019s. All-time greats who plan on dominating for years to come just don\u2019t hit the market all that often.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Celtics, who are the favorites to win the Eastern Conference next season, aren\u2019t in as \u201cdesperate\u201d of a spot as Miami is as far as adding star talent, Amick said. <\/p>\n

Opportunities to acquire players of Antetokounmpo\u2019s stature are rare. Questions remain about just how big of a swing the Celtics will take.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Profile\t<\/p>\n

\t\tKhari A. Thompson<\/a>Sports Reporter\t<\/p>\n

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet the latest Boston sports news<\/p>\n

Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boston Celtics Jaylen Brown would reportedly need to be a part of any deal involving the Celtics landing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-747435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}