Surprising Rival Could Emerge as Trade Suitor For Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo

One of the Milwaukee Bucks' most loathed Eastern Conference foes of recent vintage could make a serious trade bid for nine-time All-NBA superstar power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, according to a longtime league insider.

After nine-time All-Star Bucks point guard Damian Lillard tore his Achilles tendon in Game 4 of an eventual five-contest first round playoff series defeat to the Indiana Pacers, Antetokounmpo's fate in Milwaukee became ominously tenuous.

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Now, serious questions have arisen across the league about whether the two-time MVP could demand to be dealt away from the only franchise he's ever known.

During a Thursday appearance on ESPN's "Get Up," Brian Windhorst proposed a bold Antetokounmpo trade that could see him join a surprise nemesis.

.@windhorstespn says "the move for Giannis, if he has the control, is to go to the East."

Where could you see him landing? 👀 pic.twitter.com/GQ3Qt80Vbw
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 29, 2025

"The move for Giannis, if he has the control, is to go to the East," Windhorst said. "I think you have to look at the teams that could make a trade for Giannis that the Bucks would accept and, on the other side of the trade, would have a contending team. So, Boston would be on that list."

The Boston Celtics, who have squared off against Antetokounmpo's Bucks three times with All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on the team (going 2-1 in those series), would be a borderline shocking trade partner.

Whether the Celtics could retain Brown while acquiring Antetokounmpo in a hypothetical deal is another question entirely.

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Assuming Brown is moved, Boston could replenish the Bucks' depleted draft assets while supplying a top-15 talent in the league to Milwaukee.

Because the Celtics are above the league's punitive second luxury tax apron, a Brown-for-Antetokounmpo swap is the rare one-for-one deal Boston could actually pull off.

Whether it would make any sense for Milwaukee to accept this deal, even under duress, instead of, say, a boatload of picks and young talent from any of the three Texas teams, remains to be seen.

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