The Boston Celtics have kept up their months-long interest in adding Giannis Antetokounmpo to a team configured around Jayson Tatum, for a couple of reasons. While the team does not question whether Tatum and fellow star Jaylen Brown can co-exist (they have won a championship together, after all), the interest is more about Antetokounmpo’s ability to erase a variety of holes in the roster in a single transaction.
Sure, there would be concerns about Antetokounmpo’s poor 3-point shooting on a team that thrives on launching at the arc, and there are worries about his age (he’s 31) and health. There’s also a major question about whether the Celtics would pay Antetokounmpo the four-year, $275 million extension for which he would be eligible this summer, and whether Antetokounmpo would sign it to stay in Boston.
But having a near 7-footer like Antetokounmpo helps the Celtics with their lack of size in the middle, an ability to defend multiple positions as well handle a wide range of duties offensively, from creating in the halfcourt and using his brilliant passing, to being the best transition finisher in the game.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Solves Multiple Roster Problems
Remember, Celtics president Brad Stevens has said this offseason that the main issue for the Celtics last season was simply that they were not good enough. They can’t upgrade multiple positions on the roster this season, but my swapping out Brown for Antetokounmpo, they can get a guy who can mask weaknesses in other areas.
As one Eastern Conference exec said: “If you’re Stevens, ideally, you are keeping Brown and you are getting a starting-quality big man who can defend and pass, and you are getting a real, tough, defensive wing, and maybe another ballhandler because you don’t want to leave that all on (Derrick) White and (Payton) Pritchard. But you’ve got one pick in the 20s this year and you want to stay below the tax. So you can maybe do one of those things but not all.
“But you get Giannis, and you know, you’ve got your ballhandler, you’ve got a big guy, you’ve got a guy who can defend outside and inside. It is an all-encompassing move, it just makes you better in so many areas.”
Celtics Not Shopping Jaylen Brown, But …
As we’ve mentioned before, the Celtics are not shopping Jaylen Brown in a more general way, but swapping him for Antetokounmpo makes sense. The Celtics would not have much interest in including a draft pick in such a deal, and might even expect to add draft capital in a trade.
And we’ve also mentioned that the Bucks, if they trade Antetokounmpo, want to go young, so swapping Antetokounmpo for Brown would not work for them. The Blazers have been raised as a third-team possibility, and a deal to send him to his hometown Hawks as well, with teams like the Cavaliers and Pelicans seeming to have bowed out at this point.
Celtics Trade Would Generate Better Giannis Antetokounmpo Assets
But none of that would matter much for the Celtics, who would move forward if the deal was, for them, essentially, an Antetokounmpo-for-Brown swap, with Antetokounmpo willing to take an extension.
The Bucks do not have many other choices, at least at this point. The Heat have made the most concrete offer thus far, but the package relies on dented-can commodities like Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware and Nikola Jovic, plus picks. The Bucks want a more reliable and better young star than Herro.
There’s still time for this to play out. But the Celtics’ interest certainly makes sense.
Celtics Have ‘All-Encompassing’ Reason to Push for Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade