Get Your (Greek) Freak On
Reasons For And Against Trading For Giannis
From the moment the Boston Celtics suffered a first-round postseason exit, it felt like some changes were on the way. You don’t go from 3-1 up to being eliminated after three straight losses and expect to run everything back.
What I didn’t expect was that Jaylen Brown would once again be the focus of intense trade rumors.
Throughout Brown’s tenure in Boston, he’s been discussed as a make-weight in rumored deals for Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant and now, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Let’s be real for a moment. In each of those instances, Brown’s name was being discussed for moves that were widely seen as upgrades for the Celtics. At first, Danny Ainge was dangling Brown’s long-term upside as a top-tier wing in the NBA. Then, it became Brown’s age and the fact that he’d just entered his prime years.
This time, the rationale is that Brown just enjoyed the best season of his career while serving as the Celtics' primary scoring option. His trade value has never, and likely will never, be this high again.
Of course, there’s also the fact that acquiring Giannis would represent a legitimate upgrade for the Celtics — at least on paper. After all, Giannis and Jayson Tatum are both top-5 or top-7 players in the NBA when fully healthy. Brown is in the top-15 range. That’s a sizeable talent jump.
On paper, the fit of Giannis and Tatum makes sense, too. Their pick-and-roll game would be nasty. Giannis’ rim pressure would open up space on the perimeter, and interior screening actions could open up plenty of opportunities for the role players to feast — both off the catch and via cuts.
I get it, though, not everyone is going to be on board with a potential trade that involves Brown heading out the door, especially after the season he just had. So, let’s weigh things up.
Why A Brown Trade Makes Sense
Will Brown be willing to slot back into his previous role next to Jayson Tatum after proving he can spearhead an elite-level NBA offense?
“I’ve done that my whole career. I’ve played alongside Jayson Tatum. Nothing new,” Brown said on Jan. 15 after deferring to Anfernee Simons, who had the hot hand in Boston’s 119-114 win over the Miami Heat.
Does Brown want to continue deferring throughout the remainder of his prime years?
He’s proven he can be the guy.
If the answer is no, then finding a way to get him to a favorable situation, while also bringing in one of the best players in the world, is a win for everyone.
“I felt like I’ve sacrificed over the years in order for us to be a championship-caliber team. And I think now, we’re getting to see that a little bit,” Brown said later in January following a 102-94 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. “What exactly I was capable of, and what I was sacrificing.”
Of course, only Brown will know the answer to that question.
Outside of potentially appeasing Brown, there’s the obvious argument of maximizing the talent around Tatum. If Giannis is truly the better talent (which he is, even at age 31), then making a move to blow the window of contention wide open for the next two or three years is the right call.
The fact that Boston could acquire Giannis while maintaining financial flexibility heading into the offseason is, in my opinion, their biggest selling point to Giannis. Unlike the Heat, or most other teams around the NBA, Boston wouldn’t need to gut the roster in order to get a trade over the line.
Giannis wants to win.
Now.
A move to the Celtics is arguably his best chance of doing so in the very near future.
Say the Celtics part with Brown + one of the younger guys (Hugo or Scheierman, for example); that still leaves Tatum, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser (unless he’s traded) and Neemias Queta. Brad Stevens will still have the $27.7 million TPE, and the NTMLE (non-taxpayer mid-level exception).
Boston would make the trade and then begin reshaping the roster around its new duo.
Very rarely will a team acquire a player of Giannis’ caliber and still be in a position to compete — unless Nico Harrison convinces more NBA teams to hire him — then you can’t rule anything out.
Then we turn to the on-court aspect of it all. A Giannis and Tatum duo would arguably be the best two-man pairing in the NBA right now. Tatum would get more reps working off the ball, attacking off the catch, cut, or post-up.
Giannis would have elite shooting around him at almost every position. The spacing he would enjoy could bring out the best in him. He would also be walking into a locker room that is solely focused on winning. With a coach who holds everyone accountable, regardless of the name on their jersey.
There’s a sizeable list of reasons for this trade to go ahead. These are just a few of them. However, now it’s time to play devil’s advocate.
Why The Celtics Should Avoid A Giannis Trade
Over the last five years, Giannis has played 62.6% of his minutes at the four. The rest have come at the five. Over that same time span, Tatum has spent 55.6% of his minutes at the four.
If you add Giannis, something has to change.
Do you feel comfortable playing Tatum at the three following his Achilles tear? Do you trust Giannis at the 5 for the majority of his minutes?
Can Tatum — or Giannis — accept being the 1B next to another superstar?
These are some of the most important questions the Celtics must feel capable of answering before signing off on any move for a 31-year-old star who will be due a sizeable contract extension upon arriving at the TD Garden.
Neither of those questions comes with an easy answer. Sure, Boston will stagger Giannis and Tatum’s minutes, just as they do with Tatum and Brown — but what about when they’re sharing the floor together, which is obviously the point of all this?
Furthermore, figuring out whether Tatum or Giannis can operate as that 1B guy is something you learn as the season progresses, not based on what gets said during a preseason discussion.
With Tatum and Brown, you have a proven duo. They’ve won a championship together. They know how to operate as part of the same unit, and they have an understanding on the court. The two of them together have experienced consistent success with the franchise.
Giannis is also older than Brown and coming off a season where he suited up for 36 games.
Oh, and did I mention that outside of jamming the ball through the rim, or bulldozing his way into a layup, Giannis’ scoring arsenal is limited? Sure, he’s been working on his mid-rangers and threes over the years, but at this point, he’s still effectively a single-level scorer — that’s a decently sized challenge to contend with.
Where I’m Landing On All This
I’m in on a trade for Giannis. At the end of the day, you stack talent where possible. If that means swapping a top-10/top-15 guy for a top-5/top-7 guy, then you do it. The gap in talent is wider at the top than you might think.
You figure out the positional side of things later. Tatum can play the three, four or five. Giannis can play the four or five. There’s optionality there that provides scope for innovation.
There’s also the argument that the Jays have run their natural course together. That Brown’s season was enough to prove he deserves the keys to an offense, which is something the Celtics can’t offer him.
Brown has already removed all traces of the Celtics from his social media presence. Boston has the pieces to get a deal done without tearing things down. And both Mazzulla and Stevens are good enough at their jobs to figure out the other moving parts over the coming months.
When speaking to the media after the Celtics’ season came to an abrupt end, Stevens noted how he would like to see more dunks and rim pressure, and adding Giannis is a surefire way to inject that into the roster.
“I think that the 3-pointer after dunks and free throws, or layups and free throws — if it's not a contested layup by a giant and you're a little guy — an open kickout 3 is a good shot,” Stevens said. “And those are the ones we would like to get….With more options, we can help him and help this team get the best possible looks, and it may very well be a wide open 3, if that's what you're certainly able to generate because you can't get the other stuff.”
Losing Brown would suck. He’s a fan-favorite for a reason. However, the NBA is a business — we hear it all the time — and right now, the hottest commodity on the market is a viable target for the Celtics, so it makes sense that they’re in the mix.
The Potential Downside Of This “Pursuit”
If the Celtics are truly in on a Giannis trade, and Brown is being floated in talks, it may lead to the end of his tenure in Boston, regardless of whether a deal is made.
It’s one thing to float Brown in these types of discussions when he’s an upcoming young wing, or is viewed as an elite second option entering his prime. It’s another to do so after a season where he consistently hovered around the top-5 of MVP voting during the regular season.
You can be the ultimate professional, but at some point, you’ve got to read the room.
This is Tatum’s team.
Brown will always be the name Boston is willing to part ways with when the opportunity for a perceived upgrade arises.
“I have heard Boston is shopping people around a lot right now,” Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor recently said. “That Boston is making calls, Boston is open to trading anybody besides Jayson Tatum.
So, if Stevens has communicated to Brown that he is indeed part of these trade talks, this may be the end of the Jays, one way or another. How that would look sans Giannis is a concern for another day.
Right now, the focus should be on getting this deal over the line. Because the moment Brad picked up that phone (assuming he did), there’s a chance that everything changed.
Sorry Adam, I am not convinced. That is in large part my heart and gut talking, and it says JB should remain a Celtic.
Agree with pretty much everything you said. Look, Brown played better than I ever dreamed possible this past season. The Celtics had some of the most fun wins of this entire multi year run. I'd love to see JT and JB win another title together. But they've had 5 shots since 2022 and came up empty 4 times...including the last two. (Tatum tore achilles last season, but they were trailing series already.) I don't think these two hate each other. But maybe we're back to the idea that they are just too similar. Either skill-wise or personality wise. Both have had some great playoff moments, but to use a phrase I kinda hate...they play with their food a lot. Or FAFO.
Yes there are questions about JT and GA being 1A vs 1B. Yes there are questions about injury. (Though I think we all agree the Bucks held him out more than necessary. And GA may have held himself out too.)
Something has to change. And yes, Giannis is a much better player than Brown. I can't remember the last time Boston had someone who could attack the rim like that. I don't know if it would bring them a title, but it's worth rolling the dice.
If Celtics management sees the locker room and Giannis' medical records, and is comfortable with a trade, I trust their judgement.
For what it's worth, I don't like the idea of trying to keep Tatum, Brown and Giannis. Because having three 20-pt scorers is incredibly rare and there's no sense paying Brown $60M to be unhappy as an 18-ppg guy getting fewer touches. Injury insurance isnt enough reason to go down that road. You're either all-in on GA or not. Maybe other moves are made involving White, TPE, etc.