We are in the 11th hour for Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
With nearly 24 hours until the 2026 NBA Draft, the entire basketball world awaits where the two-time MVP gets sent. And two fierce rivals appear to be the finalists: The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics.
While the Heat have long been viewed as the frontrunner for Antetokounmpo, one of the big questions that existed was whether or not Boston was willing to include Jaylen Brown.
Two recent reports from NBA Insiders Marc Stein (The Stein Line) and Brian Windhorst (ESPN) suggest the Celtics have turned up the throttle over the last 24 hours.
“One league source, after this story was published, told The Stein Line that the Celtics managed to emerge from the weekend ‘with a real shot’ to win this race with a Jaylen Brown-centric offer, adding that Milwaukee has considered going ahead with a Boston swap even without a third-team facilitator,” Stein reported at 3:15 a.m. EST on Monday morning.
Windhorst confirmed those rumors on ESPN’s Get Up hours later.
“I was really skeptical that the Boston Celtics were going to go all in on this, and from what I understand, they have,” Windhorst said. “The Celtics and the Heat are the two teams aggressively going after Giannis. I would say they are the finalists. … [Boston] was very cautious about putting Jaylen Brown in this official, current offer. I believe they have. Jaylen Brown is on the table.”
The Miami Heat cannot compete with a Jaylen Brown-led offer:
Despite Boston’s push, the Heat are making one last push to acquire the 10-time All-Star, according to Stein.
“I don’t think the Heat are going to say ‘well, we gave it a good run,'” Stein said Monday on Sirius XM NBA Radio. “The Heat are not going to stop trying until they know that they’ve missed out on Giannis. It would be devastating for them. They went after KD, they went after Dame, this would be another left at the alter by a star situation. They’re gonna keep trying.”
If you’re looking at the two offers side-by-side, the Heat’s is more well-rounded. They have some semblance of young talent (Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr.) plus draft capital — including the No. 13 overall pick in this year’s draft.
However, Brown is five times as valuable as any single Heat asset included, contract notwithstanding. Brown, 29, is in the middle of his prime and was an MVP candidate last season. He averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists across 71 games, guiding the Celtics to 56 wins amid Jayson Tatum’s achilles injury that sidelined him for most of the season.
Acquiring Brown would create another inevitable dilemma as to whether he stays or is rerouted for more draft capital and assets that better fit Milwaukee’s timeline. But Bucks owner Jimmy Haslam wants a name; the Heat, respectfully, don’t have names other than ones on the back of their jerseys.
I fear including one or two more players won’t be enough to convince Milwaukee. But at this point, the Heat’s hand is forced. I will always have reservations about building a palatable team after. But offer whatever you need to acquire Antetokounmpo.
If it doesn’t. it’s going to get left behind in the clutter — just like you have in the years prior for stars of a lesser degree — but to your rival, no less.
Perhaps, next time, they will prepare better in terms of their asset accumulation … but they won’t because of their commandments, or whatever.
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Herro, Ware, Jaquez, Kas and 3 picks!
plus 1 pick swap and 1 second rounder.
IT IS OFFICIAL!!!!
Giannis Antetokounmpo trade: Heat land Bucks star in massive blockbuster, Celtics miss out!!!!
nobody knows where giannis is going until it is officially announced.milw comes to pat and asks for another youngen does pat give in.we will know sometime soon.if he goes to boston kawhi better be on speed dial.sure building is nice thing to say but theres uncertainty where that building will lead to.but if nothing is done except a draft pick and an average vet city of miami will be up in arms.riley better change upgrade this roster .patience running thin on pat
You mean YOUR patience is running out. The goal for me is to see tangible progress. We have won one playoff game in 3 years. I don’t imagine it can be worse with some new faces. I think we will have something to look forward to soon.
Julius Randle traded, and the Wolves had to give up more than they got to get rid of him. That’s one rough playoff stretch.
The details –
According to ESPN, Randle and Minnesota’s No. 28 selection in the first round of the draft are headed to Brooklyn for the No. 33 pick — tantamount to a salary dump — while the Nets are shipping center Claxton to the Bulls.
randle to brooklyn lol i hear hes a cancer in the locker room.antman cant be happy
Now if they can just swing a deal for KD
Chris Haynes is reporting Boston is the favorite to land him. I know I may be in the monitory, but good.
Let’s watch Kel’el, Pelle, Jaime and Kaspar grow into their careers with the 13th pick.
Don’t count “our” chickens before they hatch.
Bucks are trying to include Kuzma in Giannis trade? WTF? Who’s zooming who?
Fear of loss in sales typically refers to loss aversion—the psychological principle that people are twice as motivated to avoid losing something as they are to acquire a gain. Could fear of losing out on a Giannis trade possibly be motivating Riley to overpay Milwaukee when a lesser offer would suffice?
Giannis Antetokounmpo has given the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat official assurances that he would sign a long-term contract extension if traded to either team. The Bucks are now evaluating an all-in Boston trade offer centered around Jaylen Brown.
Latest projected trade packages:
Boston:
Jaylen Brown, Hugo Gonzalez, 27th pick, 1 future pick and a future pick swap or a 2nd
Miami:
Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez, Kasparas Jakucionis, Nikola Jovic, 2026 #13 pick, 2031 & 2033 1st round picks, pick swaps in 2029 & 2032.
Biggest winner if Giannis goes to Boston: Boston
Biggest winner if Giannis goes to Miami: Milwaukee
Biggest winner if Miami does not overpay for Giannis: Miami
“However, Brown is five times as valuable as any single Heat asset included, contract notwithstanding. Brown, 29, is in the middle of his prime and was an MVP candidate last season. He averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists across 71 games, guiding the Celtics to 56 wins amid Jayson Tatum’s achilles injury that sidelined him for most of the season.”
Every person is entitled to believe what they want to when it comes to opinions about different players. The above statement is how I feel about Brown. I also think Giannis is considerably better overall.
If Boston wants him…it’s over.
Can the Heat trade for Jaylen Brown instead?
They could, either directly or if Milwaukee flips him. And we would be able to hold onto more of our assets.
Not if the Bucks owners believe they can squeeze more combined assets out of Boston AND Miami by offering the Heat a consolation prize (Brown).
They are trying to force a bidding war. If Riley refused to play Milwaukee’s game, it could all easily blow up in their owner’s faces.
Remember, it is Giannis who holds all the cards, not the Bucks.
If Milwaukee got Brown and wanted to flip him to us, there is no way the Heat would give up more than a couple of players and maybe 2 picks. That would be much less than the 3 picks and 4-5 players for Giannis. The combo that the Celtics plus the Heat provide in total to the Bucks might be more, but less than what we offered for Giannis.
It would be less. No incentive for Bucks.
How would that benefit Bucks?
It wouldn’t. That’s exactly the point. But there seems to be a split there between the owner and the fo. The owner wants ‘a name’, fo wants the best deal.
Everything that’s happening as this goes down to the wire makes you think about a lot of things. Many of the previous moves Riley has made have brought us to this moment and some are hanging over the Heat’s head because of some of the generous contracts that were given out are being made part of this trade. But, there is also the observation that this adding of JB to the mix makes little sense for the Bucks as they will still have trouble rebuilding around Brown. It only makes sense for them if they are flipping Brown. But, in that case, why is the Celtics offer that much more attractive? I can see the deal from the Celtics perspective however.
I think the Heat should change the deal from Jovic to Pelle but otherwise change nothing and let the chips fall as they may. ,
I mostly agree, but particularly about Brown. Unless there are more assets Boston includes, Milwaukee will not get 3-5 players, 3 first rounders, and swaps if they flip Brown. Our offer is better if they don’t keep him. Maybe it is just an eleventh hour ploy to squeeze more out of the Heat.
Just testing how desperate Riley is.
Left at the alter? Sure, anti-Heat wording. Dame and Giannis would be because the GM decided they wanted to go another route and not a player signing elsewhere. That would be left at the alter. KD the first time around we were left at the alter, but not the second time around with Houston. They wanted Ware. Anywho, we roll on if he goes to Boston.
I think it’s easy to get excited about the draft pick and the team as is.
It’ll be fun to watch that team pour so much into the chase over a few years together, and push their limits as players.
No don’t get Giannis bye bam bye herro