Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks appear to be on the outs this summer. Really, at this point, absolutely nothing good would come out of the two sides staying together. While it's a relief that the Boston Celtics may perhaps no longer have to deal with one of their best players in the conference, their lives may potentially get better if they were to join forces with the two-time MVP.
A pipe dream? Sure, but now that it's been confirmed that the Celtics are among his suitors this summer, nothing should be ruled out. Right off the bat, something from Boston's side should be ruled out: neither Jayson Tatum nor Jaylen Brown is going anywhere. Brad Stevens would only make the deal if he got all three on the same team.
While the NBA has seen the downsides of building top-heavy teams, the Celtics have played as a unit, getting contributions from everyone from top to bottom this season. Their impressive play should make fans confident no matter who they send out.
But that doesn't mean the fanbase would be 100% comfortable with who they would send out. As it stands, if Boston wants the Jays out of a deal, a trade involving Derrick White, Sam Hauser, and Payton Pritchard actually gets it done salary-wise (thanks to Boston's cap space).
But... there might be some hesitance there because of how fantastic White has been. There are two ways Boston could approach a deal like this, with one common denominator that would be a huge difference maker in a potential Giannis trade: the Anfernee Simons trade exception.
They could use Simons TPE for players to match in Giannis trade
Boston possesses a $27.7 million TPE thanks to the Anfernee Simons for Nikola Vucevic swap. If they want to match salaries for Giannis without giving up White, who will make $30 million next season, they could use that to match the salaries for Antetokounmpo.
One may ask where they would get that from, but the truth is, there are plenty of expendable players on contracts expensive enough for their teams to gladly get rid of them. Look no further than Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who will undoubtedly exercise his player option for $21 million.
The Grizzlies are about to embark on a full-scale rebuild, so he's a perfect candidate for a TPE. That could be used in a Giannis trade. However, while the prospect of getting Giannis to pair with the Jays and White is tantalizing, for a scenario like that to work, Boston would have to wait 60 days to aggregate KCP with other players in a trade for Giannis.
Newsflash: Milwaukee likely won't wait that long if they want to end the Giannis era. That's why this other scenario is much more likely.
Celtics could trade White then use TPE & MLE to replace him
The nice thing about being under the cap is that it give Boston options. Look, in no way, shape or form should the Celtics be looking to trade White. However, to become great, teams have more often than not had to give up something they were attached to in order to make it happen.
It's doable to get Giannis without including White (or the Jays), but way too much would have to happen in Boston's favor for that to happen. Even if the Bucks took to long to trade Giannis, thus hurting their chances of getting a great deal for him, there will still be some good offers out there.
If the Celtics are serious about Giannis, White has to be on the table just to get Milwaukee's attention. Luckily, if they were to pull off a deal for Antetokounmpo, they have the Ant Simons TPE and the taxpayers midlevel exception to fill in what White brought to the table.
Odds are, they wouldn't be able to fully replace White, but with a ceiling raiser like Giannis on the team, they would be talented enough to merely settle for a good enough replacement. Also, while we're on the subject, Marcus Smart will likely be a free agent this summer, and he's played well enough to warrant the taxpayers MLE.
The Celtics don't have to pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo, but they'd be fools not to look into it. They are well-positioned to go after him. Even better, they're well-positioned to adequately replace who they would trade away if it came to that.
Fans may hate who they would trade, but Brad Stevens' history as an executive has been strong enough to blindly follow whatever decision he makes.