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Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks is defended by Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics during a game at Fiserv Forum on November 10, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
If the Boston Celtics trade Jaylen Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo, it’d be considered a huge upgrade — on paper, at least.
However, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons worries that his beloved Celtics will be making a catastrophic mistake by swapping Brown — fresh off the best season of his 10-year career — for an older and more injury-prone star like Antetokounmpo.
While addressing the Giannis to Celtics rumors over the weekend, Simmons said he was hoping that the Miami Heat would land the “Greek Freak” so his C’s don’t break up the famed duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
“I don’t know if [Boston trading for Giannis is] a great idea,” he said on his podcast.
“I don’t know if [Boston trading for Giannis is] a great idea. I wish I was more excited about it. Part of me hopes Miami just gets him & they try to figure out how to make the Tatum/Brown thing work. These guys played together 9 years—That would be my preference.” – @BillSimmons
“I wish I was more excited about it,” Simmons continued.
“Part of me hopes Miami just gets him and they try to figure out how to make the Tatum/Brown thing work.
“These guys played together nine years. That would be my preference.”
Simmons isn’t the only Celtics insider who has trepidations about a Giannis trade. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix sent out a similar warning to the Celtics last month, while highlighting that Antetokounmpo had missed a total of 70 regular-season games and six playoff games over his last three years with recurring calf strains/injuries.
“I would not trade Jaylen Brown for Giannis straight up. I wouldn’t do it,” Mannix told NBC Sports Boston last month.
“Giannis is too unpredictable,” he added. “These soft tissue injuries would terrify me. He’s 31 years old, looking for a max contract, coming off his history of injuries. The injury history of Giannis would scare the crap out of me.”
Much like Simmons, Mannix worries that the C’s would ruin their team chemistry by breaking up the Jays — who delivered them their 18th NBA title just two years ago.
“Don’t mess with success, man,” Mannix urged the Celtics. “Look what you’ve got here. You’ve got success in Boston. Do not screw it up.
“Everybody in the league is trying to get their hands on versatile two-way wings like Jaylen Brown,” he added. “Somebody will happily take him off your hands if you make him available. As much as I love Giannis, I wouldn’t take him right now over Brown.”
Further to Mannix’s point, Jaylen Brown firmly established himself as one of the premier two-way stars in the league last season, averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.0 steals on respectable 48/35/80 shooting splits. And he did so with Tatum missing the first 62 games of the season with an Achilles injury.
The warnings of Simmons and Mannix notwithstanding, the Celtics seem to be all-in on trying to land Antetokounmpo, the 2021 NBA Finals MVP. With previously reported suitors like the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves said to be out of the running for Antetokounmpo, it seems that either the Celtics or Heat are most likely to acquire the longtime Milwaukeee Bucks franchise star.
The Bucks are expected to trade Giannis before the June 23 NBA Draft, per multiple insiders. Bill Simmons expects a trade to happen within the coming days.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sportswriter with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided's Hoops Habit and more. More about Sai Mohan
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