Until the Giannis Antetokounmpo drama resolves, there will be rumors tying him to the Boston Celtics indefinitely. The latest intel suggests Boston will be in on him this summer, as they were earlier this year. However, it's fair to believe that even if they have a pretty fantastic asset to dangle (Jaylen Brown), they won't be alone in the Giannis sweepstakes.
Bill Simmons revealed on his post-lottery podcast that he believes the Celtics' chances of getting Antetokounmpo got much better as a result of neither Milwaukee nor Atlanta moving up. He even went so far as to call Boston the favorites for Antetokounmpo, "unless Dallas got aggressive."
The Mavericks, huh? Well, they could certainly try, but it would be complicated. Obviously, they would dangle the No. 9 pick, but they certainly wouldn't put Cooper Flagg or Kyrie Irving on the table. Their clear-as-day plan would be to pair Giannis with those two.
But who would be paired with the No. 9 pick? Dallas would have to combine a lot of contracts to make it work, as they don't exactly have the most expensive deals on their roster. They have some intriguing young talent outside of Flagg, but nothing that screams "franchise player" like Jaylen Brown.
Some combination of Dereck Lively II, Andrew Nembhard, and AJ Johnson to go with a few of the contracts of Klay Thompson, Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, and Caleb Martin could get it done. But no matter how you slice it, Boston could top that offer.
But don't be surprised if that wouldn't stop Dallas. Antetokounmpo has connections to their new president, Masai Ujiri, so don't be surprised if they at least inquire about him.
If Dallas is serious about Giannis, they should be kicking themselves
The Mavericks getting Antetokounmpo would make many forget about their historically dumb decision to trade Luka Doncic at first glance. However, if they were to pursue Giannis period, let alone succeed in that pursuit, it would look downright dumbfounding to know that they could have simply kept Doncic an extra yer and then dangled him for Antetokounmpo.
That would have trumped anything the Celtics could have offered, but it's yet more proof of just how unprecedentedly dumb the Doncic trade was overall. Antetokounmpo is a billion times more justifiable as a trade return for Doncic than Anthony Davis ever would have been, and look what happened to the latter a year after the trade happened.
But, I digress. The Celtics have to feel pretty good about their chances of getting their hands on the two-time MVP, regardless of whether the Mavericks plan to get involved or not.
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