Celtics Trade Rumor Roundup: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White

There's a lot out there, so let's look at all of them in one place and see what makes the most sense for the Boston Celtics

Mar 14, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) during warmups before a game against the Washington Wizards at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Trying to keep track of Boston Celtics rumors right now is like Luke Skywalker fighting Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back. There's so much flying at you from so many places that you’re just getting pelted and beaten down, and inevitably you’re going to hear some kind of news you just hate. And instead of losing your hand, it just goes numb from scrolling so it feels like it’s not there. 

So let’s put all the things that are out there in one place and try to make sense of them. 

1. The Giannis Antetokounmpo Stuff 
2. The Jaylen Brown Stuff
3. The Other Stuff

The Giannis Antetokounmpo Stuff 

Marc Stein: “We must acknowledge the undeniable rumbles in circulation Wednesday that the Celtics, weary of incessant speculation about a Giannis-to-Boston deal featuring Jaylen Brown, are getting frustrated with the process. One source familiar with the matter insisted that all the "Brown to third team talk" is premature.”

Zach Lowe, The Ringer: “Miami is the frontrunner to me until I hear concrete evidence that anyone has beaten the offer that has been sitting there for a long time … I would still brand Miami the front runner, but obviously the Bucks are waiting for more from them”

Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald: “Since the day after the season ended for the Heat, I have been saying Giannis is going to be a member of the Heat next season. I’m going to stick with that. I think a trade gets done on draft day. I’m gonna guess the last possible minute, they find a deal and they get Giannis.”

Chris Haynes, NBA on Prime: “Boston seems a little bit from what I’m hearing and gauging, Boston doesn’t seem a promising destination.”

Karalis’ Analysis: I can’t rule anything out at this point, but the direction of the Antetokounmpo talks have been pretty standard, actually. 

The way I see it, Miami was the perceived frontrunner, so everyone kind of backed off. Milwaukee needed more from the Heat, so they drummed up the interest from Miami’s biggest rival (and team with the best player in the deal) to create some leverage. Reporters then went to Boston, who poured cold water on it, but didn’t outright deny it. 

Do the Celtics want Antetokounmpo? I think they do. Do they want to pay what has been reported to be an “unrealistic” price? No, not at all. I think everyone will accept a Brown for Antetokounmpo deal, maybe with the 27th pick, but anything more than that isn’t going to fly for Brad Stevens. 

Milwaukee, rightfully, wants to pull the “all the picks and young players” deal that superstars have typically fetched. They don’t want to be the front office that gets a couple of picks for Antetokounmpo while Mikal Bridges got moved for five first-rounders. 

But these are different circumstances with different teams. The Bucks want the world and the closest they seem to be to getting it is by putting pressure on Miami. We can’t rule anything out, so there's definitely a feeling of “stay tuned” until a deal is done, but after all that noise, we seem to be back to where we started a month ago, but with maybe a little added pressure on Miami to sweeten the pot somehow.

The Jaylen Brown Stuff

Sam Amick, The Athletic: “League sources say the Portland Trail Blazers would have serious interest in Brown if the Celtics made him available”

Brian Windhorst, ESPN: “I am not a believer that Jaylen Brown is not going to be a Celtic at the start of the season…I believe there's a very good chance Jaylen Brown is staying put with Jayson Tatum.”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe: "I just reported the Celtics are not dangling Jaylen ... I don't think they want to trade Jaylen … I don't think they're dangling Jaylen like he can be had, no problem.”

Karalis’ Analysis: I feel like Brown is back in a familiar spot. For years, Brown has been rumored to be in trades for some of the league’s elite, but each rumor has passed without anything materializing. Each time, it has essentially been the other team saying they want Brown, and Boston deciding how far they want to go down that negotiating road. 

So I think this is the same situation. Boston understands what it would take to get Giannis, but once again, the team values Brown very highly and considers trading him to be only palatable in certain situations. So if the Antetokounmpo thing fizzles, then the Celtics aren’t pivoting to Portland or Atlanta and saying “let’s talk.” The only way Brown gets moved outside of the Antetokounmpo talks is if Brown says he’s done with Boston. 

Brown and Stevens seem to have a pretty solid relationship. If there's any fissure developing between Brown and the team, Stevens is one of the few guys who can probably mend that fence. 

Bottom line: Tough decisions have to be made in an Antetokounmpo trade, but outside of that, Brown is almost certainly staying in Boston. 

The Other Stuff

Stein: “The Pistons' Isaiah Stewart is not merely available but outright bracing for a trade that sends him elsewhere this summer … Boston is known to be looking for frontcourt upgrades and has liked Stewart for some time, sources say. I'm also told that we should list San Antonio and Miami as teams interested …

“Sources say that Boston, furthermore, has inquired about [Rudy] Gobert before ... most recently at February's trade deadline.”

Amick: “the Minnesota Timberwolves — whose pursuit of Antetokounmpo also appears to have cooled — have strong interest in the Celtics’ Derrick White. … 

“League sources say the Celtics are among the many teams with interest in the New Orleans Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III.”

Karalis’ Analysis: It's amazing how many teams are interested in good players, isn’t it? It’s almost as if front offices around the league are gauging the availability of proven, good players to see if there's a fit issue or something else that has come up that would make them available. 

It feels like the Timberwolves thing is part of the same discussion. They said “how about Derrick White” and Boston said “how about Rudy Gobert” and clearly that went nowhere. If this was around the trade deadline, then Minnesota was a sixth seed in the West looking at White going through a full-season shooting struggle. They probably saw a distressed asset and Boston saw a full frontcourt and thought maybe something can be worked out. 

That's just a guess, though. I’m sure Stevens is kicking the tires on a few different big men options. Stewart and Gobert present different opportunities. Stewart for Sam Hauser works straight up. Boston would get a tough big with an edge, which they need, and Detroit would get a shooter, which they need. It might be the easiest trade Boston can make. They could also keep their mid-level exception and their $27.7 million traded player exception in this scenario, though they’d have to make a subsequent move to use both and stay under the tax. 

Gobert and White works straight up, too. I’m not sure if that's quite as clean as Stewart for Hauser just because I think Minnesota would argue for more and I don’t think Boston would add anything to that deal other than maybe the 27th pick. But still, it would work if those teams wanted to go down that road.