Following the rumors around Giannis Antetokounmpo has been a complete roller coaster ride, and it has only been a couple of weeks. We’ve gone from thinking the Celtics were completely out, to maybe in, to now, according to Bill Simmons, not only are they in, but they’ve made a formal offer to the Bucks.
Bill was the first one to recently come out and say that Boston was in on Giannis, claiming last week that he thought they were playing possum. And now, on his Saturday night podcast with Zach Lowe, Bill said the Celtics have “dove in” and said that, from what he’s heard, they made an offer.
He went on to say he didn’t know anything beyond that, including who and what was in the proposal, but this is a huge deal. It’s one thing for the Celtics to be thinking about it and weighing their options, but it’s quite another for them to have actually made an offer.
If they’ve already gone this far down the road, it seems crazy to think they won’t get past the finish line and make this deal. We may not know exactly what was offered, but Brad Stevens isn’t dumb, and neither are we. The deal obviously revolved around Jaylen Brown.
And if the Celtics are indeed ready to offer Brown, that’s a wrap. The toothpaste is out of the tube. They can quibble about young players and draft picks and whatnot, but if Boston is ready to pull the trigger and move JB, they’re all the way in, and this deal is likely getting done.
Every possible hold-up for the Celtics seems to have been cleared at this point. We’ve heard that Giannis wants Boston, we’ve heard that he’ll sign an extension, and now we’ve heard that Boston has made an offer. If both sides want each other, this is going to happen.
That seems especially true when there don’t seem to be any other intriguing offers for the Bucks. The only other team we’ve heard with real mutual interest is the Heat, but we keep hearing that the Bucks aren’t thrilled with their meager trade package.
So if the Celtics are willing to bite the emotional bullet and trade away Brown, one of the franchise’s all-time greats, it seems like that was the last step. Now that we know that’s true, this feels like a matter of when, not if.
Surely, there’s still plenty to figure out; what third team will Brown go to, what assets will the Bucks get back, what more will Boston have to part with? But that’s all small potatoes, at the end of the day. If Brad has decided to put Brown on the table, that means the Celtics are all in on Giannis. Brad understands what that means, and he wouldn’t have gotten to this point if he wasn’t going to get it done. Turn those notifications on, Celtics fans.
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