In all likelihood, this Celtics offseason will be defined by Boston offloading pieces from its championship core in pursuit of luxury tax relief, not making big-ticket additions to its roster.
But a report this week from one prominent NBA insider listed the Celtics as a potential suitor for this summer’s premier trade target: two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
With Antetokounmpo potentially on his way out of Milwaukee after the Bucks’ third consecutive first-round playoff exit, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said the 30-year-old superstar should be angling for a trade to another team in the Eastern Conference, which projects to be substantially weaker than the West next season.
“If I was Giannis and I’m looking at the lay of the land right now, I want to stay in the Eastern Conference,” Windhorst said Thursday on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “I don’t want to go to a Western Conference team because it’s going to be a really hard mountain to climb.”
The Celtics, he said, “would be on that list” of teams that could acquire Antetokounmpo.
“I think you have to look at the teams that could make a trade for Giannis that the Bucks would accept and on the other side of the trade would have a contending team, so Boston would be on that list,” Windhorst said. “Boston would be on that list. I think New York would be on that list. There’s some difficulties when you talk about aprons and second-apron teams trying to make trades, and that’s a reality, but there are some teams in the Eastern Conference you could construct an ability to get this done.”
“Some difficulties” might be an understatement. It would require significant financial finagling for the Celtics, whose current roster is on track to be the most expensive in NBA history next season, to trade for Antetokounmpo, who’s under contract for two more years, plus a player option, and will have a 2025-26 salary of $54.1 million. Boston’s starting five alone is on the books for $198.4 million next season, including the $54.1 million owed to Tatum, who will miss at least a large portion of the season after rupturing his Achilles earlier this month.
The Celtics’ status as a second-apron team also severely restricts the type of trades they are allowed to make under league rules. They would need to shed roughly $20 million in salary from their current group to dip below the second apron – which they’ll likely attempt to do this offseason regardless of any potential interest in Antetokounmpo – and more than $40 million if they want to escape the luxury tax entirely.
Windhorst said a big swing for Antetokounmpo was more realistic before Tatum’s injury but still could be doable despite those complications.
“I think Boston was more interesting before the devastating Tatum injury because I don’t know what you can possibly get from Jayson Tatum next year,” Windhorst said. “Before that, I think that was a real conversation, and maybe it still could be.”
Though the Bucks have faded from championship contention since winning it all in 2021, Antetokounmpo’s production has not declined. He averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game this season and finished top-four in MVP voting for the seventh consecutive year (behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic and ahead of Tatum).
The multitalented 6-foot-11 forward was even better this postseason, averaging 33.0 points and 15.4 rebounds in Milwaukee’s five-game loss to the Indiana Pacers, who now sit one win away from the NBA Finals. In the final game of that series, Antetokounmpo had 30 points, 20 rebounds, 13 assists, two steals and two blocks.
Any theoretical Celtics trade package for Antetokounmpo almost certainly would include Jaylen Brown, as it’s not feasible for the Celtics to roster three players making north of $50 million per year. Brown, who had multiple on-court clashes with Antetokounmpo this season, will earn $53.1 million in 2025-26 and is signed through 2028-29.
Would else would Boston need to include to win what’s sure to be a competitive bidding war for one of the NBA’s best players? Is that even something Brad Stevens and Co. are considering? Would Antetokounmpo have any desire to join a team that won’t have Tatum for the foreseeable future and would need to offload several other key pieces to bring him aboard?
The answers to all of those questions are unclear. But Windhorst’s connection adds even more intrigue to what already was a fascinating Celtics offseason.
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