Reports are the Golden State Warriors have been “preparing for years” to target reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Might the Boston Celtics want to ruin the Dubs plans and pursue him themselves?
It’s no secret that the Boston Celtics were rolling out one of the most menacing core group of ballers the league had to offer throughout the majority of the 2019-20 campaign.
With the likes of All-Stars Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum, arguable All-Star snub Jaylen Brown, former All-Star Gordon Hayward and potential Defensive Player of the Year candidate Marcus Smart, the C’s mustered together an impressive record of 43-21. This had the team ranked third in the Eastern Conference, fifth in the entire league and headed to their sixth straight playoff appearance — clinched a postseason berth on March 10th, just one day before the NBA was forced into a COVID-19 induced hiatus.
However, even so, this is not to say Boston shouldn’t look into upgrading their roster in one way or another. Flush with numerous holes within their rotation the team could look towards many routes of how to improve their overall rotation: backup point guard, front court depth, bench scoring, etc.
We’ve brought up numerous small ways in which the C’s could better their roster and championship odds for the 2020-21 season and beyond, but what if they opted for a more extreme route?
In other words, what if they decided to go for gold with something like a blockbuster deal?
Recently, reports have surfaced indicating that the Golden State Warriors — you know them, right? — have been gearing up for quite some time to pursue Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
According to Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle is quoted as saying:
"“Though all indications are that he’s on good terms with team management, league sources believe that Antetokounmpo would want out of Milwaukee if he loses confidence in the franchise’s ability to win championships,” Letourneau wrote. “This is why the NBA shutdown could buoy the Warriors’ chances of landing their long-coveted Greek.”"
While there have been no true indications of whom the Warriors would package together in a hypothetical deal for the reigning league MVP, it is our understanding that, if they wanted to jump in on this pursuit, of all teams that could be in the running for Antetokounmpo, the Boston Celtics would likely be able to offer the Bucks the most enticing package.
And, believe us when we say, we’re not alone in this mindset…
You know who could make a really good Giannis offer if it went south? Boston.
— Josh Eberley 🇨🇦 (@JoshEberley) May 3, 2020
No, we are not necessarily advocating for the C’s to trade for the superstar forward. That said, we’re also not saying they shouldn’t.
This piece is not an indicator of whether or not we believe the franchise should pursue the talented wunderkind. Instead, it is merely a piece of hypothetical packages that we believe could prove to be better than anything Golden State could offer and, thus, would ruin their chances of creating another superteam for themselves.
With this in mind, here are two hypothetical trade packages the Boston Celtics could realistically offer to the Milwaukee Bucks in an attempt to land NBA Megastar, Giannis Antetokounmpo:
C’s land Giannis Antetokounmpo and fluff
Here, we see perhaps the biggest package heading to Milwaukee for the Boston Celtics to land Giannis Antetokounmpo. In this deal, we see Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart , Romeo Langford and a boat load of draft picks being packaged together and sent to the Central Division.
Brown, of course, is the centerpiece of this deal, as he’s truly proven to be one of the most talented young players the NBA has to offer. At just 23-years-old the wing is finding himself posting career bests of 20.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals a game on 49 percent shooting from the field and 38 percent shooting from downtown.
A threat on both ends of the floor, Brown has the tools to be a real game changer for a team and would certainly be an intriguing piece to build around should the Bucks feel they have no chance of re-signing Antetokounmpo.
Smart would also be a hard player to ship off, as he’s truly been the heart and soul of this current iteration of the Boston Celtics. Averaging 13.5 points, 4.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds a game on 35 percent shooting from the field, the 25-year-old Swiss Army man has seen career bests in virtually every statistical category and, with his oh so impressive play on the defensive end, has some advocating for him to win the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award for the 2020 season.
The inclusion of Langford into the deal is a sweetener for the Bucks for, frankly, it’ll take an obscene amount of sugarcoating to convince Milwaukee to trade away their franchise player, even if things begin to get bleak in regard to extending/ re-signing him.
The rookie has had an up and down season, being in and out of the lineup often, switching between the NBA and G-league and battling numerous injuries. However, being he’s still on his rookie contract, a 2019 lottery selection and seemingly having the tools and build capable of being a solid player in this league, the relatively unknown young talent Langford could be intriguing enough for Milwaukee to give the C’s package the edge above many pother potential deals.
As for the Celtics, obviously the main draw is Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The superstar is in the midst of having an even better season than his 2018-19 MVP campaign. Through 57 games the forward is posting 29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, one block and one steal per game on 55 percent shooting from the field.
Virtually unstoppable on offense when within 15 feet of the rim and an absolute pest on the defensive side of the ball, having Antetokounmpo in tow would make any team an instant playoff contender. However, the prospect of him running alongside All-Stars Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum? Simply put, it would make them easy title favorites.
This deal would also see the likes of veteran big man Ersan Ilyasova coming to Beantown. Though not a groundbreaking commodity, the Turkish born forward has made a career for himself as a reliable stretch-four. On the season, he is putting up 6.8 points and 4.9 rebounds on 37 percent shooting from deep. He would help aid in the second unit’s scoring numbers and perimeter shooting efficiency, where they currently rank 29th and 27th, respectively.
Also, to make the numbers meet more favorably, the team would be taking on the remaining year of Giannis’ brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo who, though not much of a contributor — 2.5 points and 1.1 rebounds on 53 percent shooting — would likely make the transition to Boston more comfortable for the Greek Freak.
C’s land Giannis Antetokounmpo & improve backup point guard position
Next on the docket we see the Boston Celtics landing the Megastar Antetokounmpo while also shoring up two weak spots within the rotation: backup point guard and secondary scoring.
We’ve been saying it for months now that the C’s seriously need to look into upgrading their bench unit’s point guard. Currently, they’re rolling out the senior citizen sophomore Brad Wanamaker in this position. While the 31-year-old has had a handful of solid outings for the shamrocks over his two year tenure, far too often he has proven incapable of running a unit effectively, has limited upside and struggles to create for his teammates.
In this scenario, the team gets a fine replacement behind Kemba Walker at the one in George Hill. Playing in his 11th season in the NBA, Hill finds himself serving as a key veteran leader and contributor for this title favorite Milwaukee Bucks team.
Through 52 games the point guard finds himself averaging 9.6 points, 2.9 assists and three boards on 53 percent shooting from the field and a whopping 48 percent shooting from deep. Despite averaging just 21.2 minutes a night Hill finds himself ranked fourth on the team in win shares and third in box plus/ minus rating.
Hill is a seasoned veteran in the league who has seen ample success in both a starting and reserve role for his teams and has seen postseason action on 10 separate occasions, six of which saw deep runs.
Included in the deal, again we see the Celtics acquire the veteran big in Ilyasova to help bolster their bench that we’ve already covered needs as much help offensively as they can get.
In turn, Boston would need to entice Milwaukee with a package of Gordon Hayward and, the key cog, Jaylen Brown along with multiple first round picks.
Hayward is finding himself finally healthy after two years of recovery from his devastating ankle injury and is producing to the tune of 17.3 points, 6.5 rebound and 4.1 assists per game on 50 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from 3.
A lofty price to pay, of course, but to pair the reigning league MVP whilst in his prime with the likes of Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker is too enticing of a possibility to not pursue, especially if it means ruining Golden State’s plans of acquiring him and, in turn, thrusting them into another string of championships.
Let another team taste consistent glory for God’s sake!