New breadcrumbs of information regarding the Boston Celtics’ rumored interest in Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo can be found with seemingly every scroll through social media.
Late Wednesday evening, we all got a new tidbit of intel regarding how narrow the race seems to be. At one point, there’d be lots of buzz about the Portland Trail Blazers possibly being a team to watch for Giannis.
The Steinline’s Jake Fischer officially ruled them out on the two-time MVP, leaving the Celtics and Miami Heat as the two likeliest landing spots for Antetokounmpo.
“I'm told that Portland, back at the February trade deadline, was prepared to sacrifice up to four years of first-round draft capital in an Antetokounmpo trade … even without knowing for sure that Antetokounmpo would commit to an extension,” Fischer shared. “It is strongly believed that the Blazers are no longer willing to go to such lengths — since it has been conveyed to them that getting such an extension signed is considered unlikely — and that perceived retreat has only fueled the notion that Miami and Boston have little current company at the forefront of these sweepstakes.”
It may seem inconsequential, since we haven’t heard a ton about the Blazers in recent weeks, but the fact that the Cs don’t have to compete with a team willing to offer four first-round picks is huge.
Also, knowing that they’re willing to part ways with draft capital remains important. When we have heard about Portland lately, it’s been in the tone that they could possibly help facilitate a deal between Boston and Milwaukee.
Could the Blazers help the Celtics land Giannis?
The idea has been that they’d include some of the Bucks’s picks in exchange for Jaylen Brown, who NBA Insider Marc Stein reported that they had interest in as recently as last month.
Of course, that only matters if Boston is actually willing to include Brown in said trade talks. As of now, there’s been no clear indication either way.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst shared that he has yet to hear about JB being on the table in any trade discussions.
“The word out of Boston is that Jaylen Brown has not been offered for anybody,” Windhorst said on Thursday morning’s Get Up episode. “That’s the story that the Celtics have and they are sticking to it. Have the Celtics and Bucks talked? I believe that they have.”
As little as we can all feel like we know about this situation, one thing is certain -- the fewer teams involved, the better.
Boston currently sits in a prime spot. They can feel confident about outbidding the Heat without necessarily having to go all-in. For now, all we can do is just wait and see what happens, though.
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