New Giannis Trade Rumors Update Celtics' Pursuit amid Jaylen Brown Links, Bucks Buzz
ESPN's Brian Windhorst says he hasn't heard anything confirming a connection between Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Boston Celtics in a recent appearance on ESPN Cleveland.
"I know some people are linking him to Boston. I have not personally heard that Giannis, Boston and Milwaukee are serious about it," Windhorst said around the 14:00 mark of his ESPN Cleveland appearance. "That's out there, but I haven't— I'm not saying that it hasn't happened. I haven't heard it."
Windhorst's update comes after NBA insider Marc Stein described the Celtics and the Miami Heat as teams "increasingly perceived to be the potential trade destinations that currently — underline currently — most intrigue Milwaukee's Antetokounmpo."
That's significant considering that whichever team trades for Antetokounmpo will likely want to extend him past the lone guaranteed season remaining on his current contract.
ESPN's Shams Charania has named the Celtics as a team that expressed interest in Antetokounmpo ahead of the February trade deadline.
Charania recently reported, however, that those talks didn't progress as far as "the particulars" of a potential trade.
"The Celtics did check in. They did make a call. They did have a level of interest," Charania said last week in an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. "And I think that is going to continue into this offseason, but they've never gotten into the particulars, because it takes two to tango. You're not just going to offer up a player that it might take to get a deal done without there being interest from the other side."
ESPN's Bobby Marks has previously reported a potential Celtics trade for Antetokounmpo "would almost certainly come at the cost of Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum."
Antetokounmpo's interest in sticking around in Boston and the Celtics' willingness to split up their core could both influence whether the franchise ultimately pursues a trade for the Bucks star this summer.
