The Celtics can offer a rare golden combination in a potential trade for Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo: the assets to put together a competitive trade package AND the depth to have a contender around Giannis afterwards. This is all thanks to the work of general manager Brad Stevens, who has been surgical in building the Celtics since stepping into the front office.
Many other trade suitors lack one or both of these key traits. Even some of Giannis’ preferred destinations are coming into doubt after considering the state of their roster post-trade. But the Celtics can send back some desirable pieces while maintaining the structure that’s garnered so much recent success.
Brad Stevens has pulled off a masterpiece
Despite losing some key starters last summer, the Celtics retained a very strong big three of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. Either Brown or White is valuable enough to headline a Giannis trade package along with some supporting talent and draft capital. When Giannis gets back to the Celtics in the hypothetical deal, he’ll still have Tatum as a teammate and other solid depth.
Brad Stevens has done some remarkable work to maintain the Celtics’ incredible depth despite dominating the East for years in a row. Most contenders elsewhere fall off as the luxury tax and age catch up with them, but Stevens has done a great job retooling around his core.
Stevens’ brilliance was most obvious this last season, when he built a roster that won 56 games despite losing Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in the offseason on top of missing Jayson Tatum for most of the season. Amidst all that chaos, Stevens was able to find great hidden gems and structure a team that empowered Brown to be his best.
The Celtics have a clear leg up on the fieldÂ
Other suitors for Giannis may send back undesirable players to the Bucks or leave the Greek Freak with a barren crew once he arrives. For the Bucks, who seem committed to doing right by Giannis, both are difficult problems to overcome.
In fact, many potential suitors will pose both problems in a prospective trade. Getting proper value for a player of Giannis’ magnitude has always been hard, but the modern CBA has made it even more difficult. If they choose not to go with the Celtics, the Bucks would likely need to involve multiple teams to check off all their wish list items for a Giannis trade destination.
Or they can just convince Giannis to go with the easiest solution and send him to Boston. It would be the biggest feather yet in Brad Stevens’ cap but perfectly deserved.
Add us as a preferred source on Google