Celtics Should be Monitoring Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade to Land His Sidekick

The Boston Celtics are not in a position to land Giannis Antetokounmpo, who, as ESPN's Shams Charania notes, has a preference for the New York Knicks. Per Charania, "Antetokounmpo's concerns with the (Bucks) roster and his desire to explore external options -- he wanted to play for the New York Knicks if he were to be moved -- led to talks between the Bucks and Knicks for multiple weeks in August."

Antetokounmpo's market is shaping up to be an overpay, meant to extract any remaining assets the Knicks have left over after the Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns blockbusters. He's not who the Celtics should have eyes on.

Myles Turner is. Milwaukee never made sense as a landing spot for Turner, who isn't meant to be your second-best player but has to be on the Bucks' roster. As a fourth option, though? He's ideal, as the Indiana Pacers' run to the Finals showed, when he was behind Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton, and Andrew Nembhard in postseason shot attempts.

As Hoops Habit's Cal Durrett notes, "Turner could be available if the Celtics are forced to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo, with Turner being a highly intriguing option."

His two-way rim-running, which comes with floor-spacing none of the team's current bigs provide, would raise Boston's ceiling back to at least an Eastern Conference championship level, assuming Jayson Tatum has a healthy return, and Jaylen Brown's historic play continues.

Turner is the type of player you risk an overpay on. Unlike an Antetokounmpo overpay, giving up too much on Turner won't call your franchise's future into question.

Myles Turner Has Long Been a Celtics Trade Target

Dating back to the late early 2020s, the Celtics have had eyes on Turner as a trade target. During the 2019-20 season and 2020 offseason, a Turner deal headlined by Gordon Hayward was a realistic possibility.

It never came to fruition, but Stevens may have the perfect opportunity to do what Danny Ainge didn't in the coming weeks.

If Giannis is leaving Milwaukee, so is anything that can help them win. Turner is their top defender and rebounder outside of Antetokounmpo. He'd be hitting the market at practically the same time as "The Greek Freak."

If/when that happens, it's the Celtics' destiny to finally land the former Texas Longhorn, five years after most would've expected them to.