Boston Celtics

The Celtics offered the best player they could because they believed Antetokounmpo to be a better player than Jaylen Brown.

By Chad Finn

June 23, 2026 | 3:09 PM

4 minutes to read

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It’s me. I’m the one, or at least one among a small minority.

In the hours after business was finally settled, I’m bummed out the Celtics couldn’t swing a Jaylen Brown-for-Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.

Oh, don’t take this as a suggestion that Brad Stevens, the Celtics’ trustworthy president of basketball operations, should have matched or surpassed the Heat’s winning offer for Antetokounmpo, the nine-time All-NBA selection and two-time Most Valuable Player.

In the reported parameters of the deal, which also sends forward Bobby Portis to Miami, it appears the Heat did not give up much in star power, but rather a flock of B/B-minus players with varying upsides, including Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez, Kel’el Ware, and the intriguing Kasparas Jakucionis.

But they did include an abundance of draft picks, including three first-rounders, a pick swap, and a second-rounder. In bulk, it’s a lot, and the Heat probably threw in the rights to Rony Seikaly and Sherman Douglas for good measure.

Stevens was disciplined and wise to draw the line. The Celtics reportedly offered Brown and a pair of first-round picks, confirmation of something that Brown’s most loyal fans didn’t want to recognize: The Celtics rightfully — obviously, I say — saw Antetokounmpo as a clear upgrade.

The scenario seems to have played out the way I anticipated. The Celtics offered Brown, who was the best player the Bucks were going to get in return, and waited to see if Milwaukee would get a better offer.

The desperate Heat, who have coveted Antetokounmpo for years, upped the ante — most likely leading to the Celtics adding a couple of firsts to the offer — until they hit my predicted tipping point:

Sorry, we’re not including Hugo Gonzalez, or anything else. We’re out. Enjoy South Beach, Freak.

Now, the reason I was hoping the Brown-and-a-couple-of-picks offer would be enough to entice the nitwits in charge of the Bucks to send Antetokounmpo to Boston is simple: I am a great enjoyer of covering the NBA Finals at TD Garden.

Adding Antetokounmpo — a better player than Brown who fills some of the needs, such as scoring the paint, that Stevens cited in his candid season-end press conference — would have raised their ceiling and given the Celtics a better shot at winning that 19th banner than the alternative, which is apparently the Brown/Jayson Tatum status quo, with some additions on the periphery.

I strongly suspect that Stevens, who is rational and unsentimental, recognizes that the path back to true championship contention with this core is extremely difficult.

Brown and Tatum are champions, and that banner flies forever. But it often goes overlooked even by savvy Celtics fans that the Jays, because of their iso-ball tendencies, require a certain kind of supporting cast — high-end, versatile, selfless players.

I’ll reiterate: Those types of players are extremely difficult to find. The Celtics have ways to add veteran talent. But I’ve asked and asked again, and no one has come up with potentially available players who can do for Tatum and Brown what Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis did two years ago.

This team has gone backward the last two years, in part because of injuries, and in part because of their recurring failure to take care of business when they have had a chance. This season ended when they blew a 3-1 lead to a team that got annihilated in the next round.

They are not a non-contender, but they are significant and unforecastable moves from having a true championship roster. Stevens knows it, too.

So in the quest to win another title in Tatum’s prime, with the collective bargaining agreement tightening that window, he took a specific opportunity to trade an excellent player for a better one.

I’m not sure Brown would buy that explanation. But as someone fluent in Bradspeak, I believe that the truth.

So, what now with Brown? There’s plenty of speculation from national writers, many of whom were behind on the Celtics’ potential involvement in an Antetokounmpo trade the entire way, that there will now be a bidding war for Brown.

Not buying it. I don’t believe the Celtics have any intention of trading him unless it’s for a better player who helps in myriad ways. That was Giannis, and I’m not sure it’s anyone else, unless the Celtics believe New Orleans sharpshooter Trey Murphy will be better than Brown soon. I don’t think they do.

Perhaps Brown is frustrated, and there’s speculation that he could ask for a trade. I tend to believe Stevens — who was apologetic when Marcus Smart was frustrated that he wasn’t given a head’s up that he might be traded — kept Brown in the loop. Holiday, for one, said that he appreciated Stevens being candid with him before he was traded last offseason.

And if Brown is chapped? Well, too bad, what’s his leverage? He makes roughly $60 million a year. It’s still a good situation. Is he going to hold out? Become a full-time Twitcher? Will he play but vow to pass even less?

I do understand why so many Celtics fans — the vast majority, my email would suggest — are happy that the deal did not happen. One of the most satisfying plots in sports is when a player you watched grow up becomes a champion.

My daughter, when I was annoying her like I have been you with Get Giannis takes, said it with the utmost clarity: “I know it’s probably the right basketball move. I just don’t want the Jays era to end.”

It’s a sweet sentiment, one that represents the best of true fandom.

I just can’t help but think that, barring some unforeseeable brilliant roster enhancements, their seasons are going to keep ending sooner than us Finals-loving folks want.