With the amount of reporting, rumors, and speculation about a potential Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, you’d think we’d have a little more clarity with less than a week before the NBA Draft. But for any fans freaking out, wondering what’s taking so long and why the Celtics haven’t either gotten a deal done or made it clear they aren’t in the mix, just settle down and think about this rationally.
We know that Boston is interested, we know they’ve made an offer, and we know that they’ve maintained contact with the Bucks. It sounds like they are comfortable with where they stand in these dealings, and why shouldn’t they be?
All reports indicate that the only other team truly in the mix is the Heat, and frankly, their offer is not good. There is no blue-chip player, prospect, or pick that Miami can offer, and even if they put everything they have on the table, it leaves them with an uninspiring team around Giannis. It makes no sense for the player, and even less sense for the Bucks. And Brad Stevens is well aware of this.
He knows that the Bucks just need to say the word, and the deal is done with Boston, a deal that’s likely based around Jaylen Brown and some degree of draft capital. There’s nothing Miami can do to beat that deal, so unless another team comes and gets involved in the mix, the Celtics are almost certainly sitting in pole position. They don’t need to raise on their own bid.
Brad Stevens is playing chess with these negotiations
It makes perfect sense for Milwaukee to wait and hope that another bidder comes along and they can extract more value ahead of the draft. They have no reason to rush this now, and might as well posture, negotiate, and wait every possible second to analyze every deal that might come their way. But barring a wild-card team, Milwaukee will take this down to the wire, and once it becomes clear they are choosing between Miami’s pupu platter and Jaylen Brown, it’s going to be an easy choice, and a deal will come quickly.
Nobody needs to firmly report this, and to an extent, it probably doesn’t even have to be said between the teams when negotiating. This is about as public of a trade scenario as we’ve seen in a while. Everyone knows who’s involved and what they have to offer. Just by Boston letting the Bucks know they are interested, which they clearly are, that should be enough for Milwaukee to know what’s on the table.
So, be patient, Celtics fans. Brad knows the game, and he’s playing it well. As long as he wants the prize, he holds the winning ticket, and there is zero reason for him to bid against himself. Unless another team comes out of left field and changes the math here, it’s smart for the Celtics to just sit back and wait for the Greek Freak to fall into their lap.
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