Brad Stevens swung for the fences when he tried to get Giannis Antetokounmpo, but ultimately struck out. This leaves the Boston Celtics with so many questions, including what happens next with Jaylen Brown. But many have been wondering how exactly Stevens lost to Miami in the Giannis sweepstakes. It's honestly pretty complicated, but it may boil down to Stevens' rep being too good for Milwaukee to trust a deal would work out for them.
Every time Stevens was presented with a task for the Celtics, he passed with flying colors. When he needed to get them back on track, he brought Al Horford back. When he needed to improve them around the edges, he went out and got Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday. And when he needed to cut costs without giving up assets, he did it.
Now, Stevens has been tasked with vaulting the Celtics back up to contention, which is why Giannis made a lot of sense because, simply enough, he's Giannis. However, because Stevens has a history of being able to having everything go the Celtics way (depending on what they need), the Bucks may have been a little wary about making a deal.
For that reason, Miami may have made more sense as a trade destination because Stevens has simply been too good at his job where there wouldn't have been as many questions sending Giannis to Boston as there has been since he was traded to Miami.
By extension, that means any assets Boston would have sent over would have been in serious jeopardy of panning out to nothing worthwhile in the end.
That doesn't mean Milwaukee made the right choice. There's a solid chance they'll regret not taking Jaylen Brown when it was right there, but there is some validity to being afraid to deal with Stevens.
Stevens would have had plenty to work with after a Giannis-Celtics trade
Remember that Boston's offer was Brown and two first-round picks. If Milwaukee said yes, Stevens would have had Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Neemias Queta, all their young talent, the non-taxpayers mid-level exception, the Anfernee Simons and Georges Niang TPEs.
That's a lot to work with. Even crazier, players want to play with someone like Giannis because he has both gotten them raises and a few the label of an NBA Champion. That's the kind of appeal he has.
Antetokounmpo would have been the main ingredient to turning the Celtics around, but Stevens had plenty at his arsenal if and when they brought in the Greek Freak to capitalize from there. Again, the Bucks probably thought about that and worried about the kind of juggernaut Stevens likely would have built from there.
It further shows how good Stevens is at his job that teams are now afraid of what he could do when given a golden ticket like Giannis. Boston not getting him may not have had to do with that they did or didn't offer, but rather what the kind of scorched earth Stevens could have done to the league if they had pulled off the trade.
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