The Milwaukee Bucks reportedly are “open for business” on trading Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Boston Celtics are believed to be one of the teams in the market for his services.
From a basketball perspective, the Celtics’ interest in Antetokounmpo would make sense. Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens recently expressed a desire for Boston to have “more of an impact at the rim,” and Giannis fits that mold to a tee as a former Defensive Player of the Year who leads the NBA in dunks per game over the past two seasons.
Of course, the cost to acquire Antetokounmpo would be high. And considering he’s set to make $58.5 million next season, the Celtics almost certainly would have to include Jaylen Brown ($57.1 million salary in 2026-27) as part of the return package.
While Brown just finished sixth in NBA MVP voting after a career year with the Celtics, Antetokounmpo is still the more talented and accomplished player who will fill a glaring need for Boston in the frontcourt.
But if you ask Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, swapping Brown for the two-time NBA MVP still wouldn’t be worth it for Boston.
“I would not trade Jaylen Brown for Giannis straight up. I wouldn’t do it,” Mannix said recently on NBC Sports Boston. “Giannis is too unpredictable. These soft tissue injuries would terrify me. He’s 31 years old, looking for a max contract, coming off his history of injuries. The injury history of Giannis would scare the crap out of me.”
To Mannix’s point, Antetokounmpo played in just 36 games this past season while dealing with significant calf and knee injuries. He’s missed at least 15 games in four of the last five seasons and will turn 32 in December.
Beyond Antetokounmpo’s availability issues, however, Mannix doesn’t see the need to break up Brown and Jayson Tatum, who won a title together just two seasons ago and have helped the Celtics become a perennial contender.
“Don’t mess with success, man,” Mannix added. “Look what you’ve got here. You’ve got success in Boston. Do not screw it up.
“Everybody in the league is trying to get their hands on versatile two-way wings like Jaylen Brown. Somebody will happily take him off your hands if you make him available. As much as I love Giannis, I wouldn’t take him right now over Jaylen Brown.”
As Mannix reported earlier this month, several teams are expected to have interest in trading for Brown this summer, including Brown’s hometown Atlanta Hawks. Brown’s trade value has never been higher, so the Celtics could get massive offers if they make the five-time All-Star available this offseason.
The counterpoint? The C’s have two top-10 players in their primes in Brown and Tatum and absolutely have a path to title contention in 2026-27 if Stevens can surround them with the right supporting cast.
According to Mannix, Boston’s best path forward is keeping the Jays intact rather than hoping Antetokounmpo can regain his MVP form.
