Boston Celtics: 4 trades to boost top Eastern Conference contenders

The first deal on this countdown is one that would be somewhat of a last-ditch effort on Milwaukee’s part to placate Giannis Anetokounmpo after what will likely be an early exit at the hands of the Miami Heat.

Chris Paul is the perfect player to get right now to show the Bucks’ franchise star that the team is serious about building a winner around him. Due to his massive salary, Milwaukee would have to give up a fair share of players…and potential draft capital as well, but nothing that isn’t expendable.

Oklahoma City would benefit from adding Eric Bledsoe and George Hill to a system designed for multiple point guard sets, and Robin Lopez and Ersan Ilyasova could be aggregated to acquire another player at the trade deadline if this team doesn’t outright cut them upon arrival.

If this trade were to happen, it’d have to be timed after the NBA Draft because of the Stepien Rule. Miami has already traded away their 2021 first-rounder and would need to have made the pick and signed him before trading it.

That said, if they did this, they’d immediately be Eastern Conference frontrunners and it wouldn’t be close. Alongside Jimmy Butler, with Erik Spoelstra as a head coach, and with Pat Riley filling out the rest of the roster, this would be by far the best chance Giannis Antetokoumpo has ever had at a championship.

The return for Milwaukee keeps them competitive in the short-term and gives Khris Middleton a chance to be the lead man with fellow All-Star Bam Adebayo and two prolific scoring threats in Kendrick Nunn and Tyler Herro, who have the potential to turn into stars themselves. All of this would of course be contingent on whether Antetokounmpo will sign the supermax with Milwaukee.