A blockbuster trade proposal has the Milwaukee Bucks sending superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to a longtime Eastern Conference rival in a move that would drastically alter the NBA landscape.
In Oct. 2023, Giannis Antetokounmpo agreed to a three-year max contract extension worth $186 million. The Bucks had just brought in fellow future Hall of Famer Damian Lillard via trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, so the Antetokounmpo extension was supposed to cement Milwaukee as an NBA juggernaut long-term.
But Milwaukee was upset by the Indiana Pacers in the opening round of the playoffs last year, and they haven’t looked anything like a championship contender here in 2024-25.
They sit fifth in the East with a 26-20 record and are 0-8 against the conference’s top three teams in the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. So maybe shaking up the core isn’t the worst idea, especially if they got the perfect offer for Giannis.
Fran Leiva of Fadeaway World proposed a massive trade idea that has Milwaukee sending Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Celtics in exchange for All-Star Jaylen Brown and first-round picks in 2025 and 2027:
“Fresh off a championship and with Finals MVP Jaylen Brown in the spotlight, the Celtics are the team to beat this season. Their 2023-24 title run reestablished Boston’s dominance, and they’ve maintained their entire core with Brown and Jayson Tatum leading the charge. Brown’s impressive playoff performance cements him as essential to their title hopes, but adding Giannis would take Boston’s firepower and defense to another level.
Swapping Brown for Giannis would shake the league and potentially secure a Celtics dynasty, but it’d mean sacrificing their Finals MVP and disrupting a roster already primed to defend their title.”
Boston would be getting the best player in the deal, but Brown is still a top-15 player and two years younger than Antetokounmpo. Those two first-round picks could always be packaged by the Bucks to trade for another star and complement a core of Brown, Lillard and Khris Middleton.
Milwaukee Bucks Shouldn’t Consider Trading Giannis Antetokounmpo Just Yet
The Bucks have won just a single playoff series (in 2022) since winning the NBA championship four years ago. If they don’t go on a deep run this year, GM Jon Horst may not be able to avoid the temptation to shake up the core.
That could mean trading Giannis, but it shouldn’t be on the organization’s mind right now. The Bucks still have the talent in place to go on a deep run and compete for the NBA title, after all.
