Jaylen Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo? Why one side probably says no to NBA's hottest trade rumor... for now

The Celtics just crashed out of the playoffs in the first round, so would they trade Brown to land Giannis?

Sam Quinn

May 4, 2026

8:54 pm ET

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14 min read

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It's been an eventful few days for Jaylen Brown. On Saturday, with Jayson Tatum out, he was charged with leading the Boston Celtics through the most important game of their season, a winner-take-all Game 7 against the rival Philadelphia 76ers. Despite shouldering the No. 1 option load for most of Boston's 56-win season, he ultimately came up just short in a 109-100 defeat. A bitter Brown accused 76ers star Joel Embiid of flopping after the game.

On Sunday, a still seemingly frustrated Brown took to Twitch for a stream that included a number of notable comments:

- He doubled down on the accusations against Embiid. "Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in f---ing basketball history, flops. He knows it. This ain't breaking news," Brown said.

- He accused the officials, who whistled him for 10 offensive fouls in the series primarily for using his off-arm to create space as a driver, of having an agenda against him. "Why are you targeting me? They clearly had an agenda," he said. "Maybe because I spoke, I was critical of the refs in the regular season. So you know how they responded? 'We're gonna call every, you're gonna lead the playoffs in offensive fouls.'

- He called this his "favorite" season in the NBA despite representing his earliest personal postseason exit (Boston was eliminated in the first round in 2021 as well, but Brown was injured). "This group was a special group. I'm so proud of this group and the way we played. I wish we trusted that style of play a little bit more, but I know the playoffs kind of shifted our rotations and what we wanted to do. But I am so proud, and it was my favorite year of my basketball career," he said. Notably, this was Brown's first season as his team's leading scorer. He set new career-highs in points (28.7 per game), field goal attempts (21.7), free throw attempts (7.5) and usage rate (36.2%) this season.

These comments would raise eyebrows even under normal circumstances, but in light of Boston's playoff disappointment, broader roster issues and balance sheet crunch, they've become immediate trade rumor fodder. Boston, after all, has been linked to the biggest name on the trade market.

In April, The Athletic's Sam Amick reported that the Celtics "are known to be interested" in two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. The timing seemed a bit peculiar. The Celtics were, at the time, the Eastern Conference favorite. Acquiring Antetokounmpo would sure require trading either Brown or Tatum, and no team on its way to the Finals would give up a homegrown star for someone two years older and substantially more injury-prone. But Boston's loss opened that door. On Monday, Marc Stein called the Celtics a "team to watch" for Antetokounmpo on an appearance on SiriusXM Radio.

Now, we're still very early into the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes. There aren't even sweepstakes yet. He may ultimately elect to re-sign with the Bucks. He's eligible for an extension this offseason, and while he technically can't sign it until October, discussions will surely happen in the background, and if he indicates he doesn't plan to re-up, Bucks owner Wes Edens has already indicated Milwaukee will trade him. So, let's say that's where we're headed. Does a Brown-for-Antetokounmpo deal make sense? Let's break it down from all angles and try to figure out who ultimately says no.

Why would the Celtics be interested?

Well, let's start with the obvious: Giannis Antetokounmpo is a better all-around basketball player than Jaylen Brown. Pretty straightforward, right? There are a number of ways to build a championship team, but the depth path isn't nearly as available to Boston as it was in 2024. Brown was on a sub-max rookie extension at the time, while Tatum, due in part to a design flaw in the Rose Rule, was only playing on a 25% max. Now, both are locked into 35% max deals -- the biggest contract any player can sign.

Antetokoumpo will eventually extend on similar terms. If building a depth-centric team isn't possible with two players earning two-thirds of your cap, then an alternative is to ensure that you're getting the most possible bang for all of those bucks. You'd rather have an MVP-candidate making a 35% max than a standard, All-NBA player making that much.

The stylistic appeal here runs much deeper for Boston. Few teams in the NBA rely on 3-pointers as much as Boston does. The Celtics had the fourth-highest 3-point attempt rate in the NBA this season... and this was a down year. The Celtics led the NBA in 2024, and in 2025, they became the first team in NBA history to attempt more 3s than 2s.

The counter to this 3-point-heavy style? No team in the NBA had a lower free-throw rate than t