With the Giannis Antetokounmpo resolved, it's reasonable to believe the Milwaukee Bucks have one of the bleakest outlooks in the NBA for the foreseeable future. They didn't get any future franchise players from the trade, and they don't have a first-round pick (unless via swap) until 2031. You know who can take advantage of this? The Boston Celtics.
The Bucks don't owe the Celtics (although to be fair, Boston is still quite happy Milwaukee gave them the free lane to acquire Jrue Holiday), but Boston has the chance to own the Bucks' future if they pull off a deal that would send Jaylen Brown to the Portland Trail Blazers.
We know Portland wants Brown, and they have two of Milwaukee's assets that would definitely appeal to Boston: their 2028 and 2030 pick swaps with the Bucks. With very little hope in Wisconsin at the moment, Boston has the chance for a Brooklyn-esque deja vu by basically owning Milwaukee's future as the bottom falls out for them in a post-Giannis world.
The Celtics can either potentially get two golden prospects (and Celtics fans have every reason to trust Brad's drafting expertise) or get someone good out of it. They say revenge is a dish best served cold. Well, if Stevens pulled this off, bon appetit, Milwaukee!
And who says that it has to stop there?
Trey Murphy III has also come up in Celtics trade rumors recently. There's no telling if those rumors will amount to anything, but New Orleans also owns a pick swap with Milwaukee. There's no telling what their plan is, but before you know it, maybe Boston call pull off getting that pick swap as well.
Getting Murphy and the pick swap shouldn't and wouldn't be that simple, as it would likely take Derrick White to pull something like that off. Nonetheless, if Boston couldn't get the Greek Freak, owning the Bucks' direct future would be quite the consolation prize as they are expected to be one of the league's worst teams.
Sure, the lottery odds have flattened, but even so, Boston having the chance to draft a potential game-changer and have him under team control for years sounds enticing. Or, again, it could sound enticing to a team that has a game-changer that is also looking to start over.
Brad Stevens is a msart enough executive to know to keep his options open. The Celtics' outlook is not great at the moment, but now Stevens has a chance to explore his best options. Owning the Bucks' future may be at the very top.
Add us as a preferred source on Google