Until the Milwaukee Bucks trade Giannis Antetokounmpo, the two-time MVP will remain in the Boston Celtics rumor mill. It didn't take long for said rumors to start after their playoff loss. Don't be surprised if it gets a little quiet because Brad Stevens operates in the shadows. Regardless of how serious Boston's interest is, they actually have something that could entice the Bucks to make a deal.
That is the Anfernee Simons TPE worth over $27.7 million. Boston can absorb a contract worth up to $100k over that. That means they can absorb an albatross contract on top of Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee has a player with that kind of deal on their payroll: Myles Turner.
Turner has been an outright disaster for Milwaukee since they jumped through all those hoops to get him. Even so, there's a strong case for Boston to get him on the premise that they simply need a playoff-capable starting center.
The other point to keep in mind is that the Bucks trading Giannis would mean they're cleaning house, which means they would probably look to trade Turner as well. Teams aren't too keen on acquiring someone like him on that contract with the season he just had, but a team like the Celtics just might bite that bullet.
Not just because they need someone like him, but because it'd be worth it in the Giannis deluxe package.
Here's how a trade could work out between Bucks & Celtics
It works in Boston's favor that Jaylen Brown will make barely (and I mean barely) less than Antetokounmpo next season. It would be a tough sacrifice, but if it gets the Celtics an upgrade in Giannis and gets them a proven complementary center, it's a risk they should be willing to take.
Kevin O'Connor already laid out a pretty solid three-way deal between the Celtics, Bucks, and Atlanta Hawks in which the Celtics would get Antetokounmpo, Hawks would get Brown, and Bucks would get expendable contracts to go with draft assets.
How could Turner factor into a deal like that? Well, the Celtics could absorb Turner with the Simons TPE, but that might be doing the Bucks a little too big a favor to take that deal. Milwaukee would have to take back a deal like Sam Hauser, who is paid less and has a contract that runs for two more years.
If a Hauser for Turner swap were included, it would make the Celtics hard-capped at the first apron, but that's better than the second apron while hitting two birds with one stone.
Yes, Turner is pricey, and yes, he clearly proved that the ends didn't justify the means for Milwaukee, but even the most casual fan could see the vision with him and Giannis together. Turner was basically the Brook Lopez replacement the Bucks needed. It's not his nor Antetokounmpo's fault that the rest of the Bucks roster has practically nothing to brag about.
It would be different in Boston putting those two next to Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard, among others. The Celtics basically upgrade from Brown to Antetokounmpo, solve their big man issues, and don't have to cross the NBA's second tax apron in the process.
This all sounds like quite a home run swing for Stevens. It's not something he has done before, but when the going has gotten tough, he's made the necessary deals to give Boston the edge. A trade like this would fit that bill.
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