New Hawks Three-Team Trade Idea Sends Jaylen Brown to Atlanta, Giannis Lands In Boston

There are eight teams left in the 2026 NBA playoffs, and the Atlanta Hawks or Boston Celtics are not among them, with the Celtics' early exit being far more surprising than Atlanta's six-game exit against the New York Knicks.

Since the season, there has been a lot of chatter around Celtics star Jaylen Brown and his potential future with the team. In a recent Twitch stream, Brown made comments about how this was his favorite season with the team, despite the game seven loss to the 76ers, and Tracy McGrady, who is close with Brown, talked about how he was having frustrations with the organization:

“I think his frustration lies deeply within the organization and other things that we don’t really have the details to,” McGrady said. “It’s just been a lot of stuff that I’ve been hearing just going on with the Boston organization with JB. So I think part of him is like, ‘I showed you guys more of who I am as a basketball player. Not only just, you know, what I did on the basketball court, but the leadership that I displayed within this team, and you’ve seen that not having our best player in JT.’ So, all that stuff, I think just came into play with him and his frustration.”

New Trade Idea

With Brown's comments and the speculation around his future, there have been some ideas thrown out by various analysts about a potential three-team construction that would send Brown to the Hawks, Boston landing Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Bucks getting assets to build for the future. The latest one comes from Yahoo Sports Kevin O'Connor:

Would the Hawks do this?

The toughest part to answer here is what kind of draft picks are involved in this deal. Are the Hawks sending out their 2026 pick that is the most favorable of the Pelicans and Bucks? If that pick is in the top four, that seems very, very unlikely, but we won't know until after the draft lottery on Sunday.

For Atlanta, it would come down to how many picks they are giving up in this scenario. Corey Kispert is not an integral part of their team and could be traded this offseason, as could former No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher. Risacher has not developed as quickly as the Hawks had hoped, and with a decision on his $17 million team option for next season due in October, Atlanta might decide to move on even if he is not in a trade like this.

Kuminga was a huge part of the Hawks 20-6 finish to the season and is still a young player, but his $24 million salary would be key to doing this deal and the Bucks may insist he be in it.

If the draft pick compensation is not heavy, there is a world in which I could see the Hawks doing this deal, even if it goes against what general manager Onsi Saleh recently said about the team not being one player away from contention.

Atlanta is not mortaging their future for any player this offseason, but for the right price, anything can happen.

Would the Bucks do this?

My feeling is the Bucks would be the team to say no to this deal, unless the pick compensation was too much to turn down. Kispert is a player on a bad contract (not super relevant for a rebuilding team), Risacher has had flashes, but might have the ceiling of a solid role player, and Kuminga is very inconsistent, though his high points are awesome.

Would the Celtics do this?

My gut says yes, since they are upgrading in terms of players. Brown had a great season in Boston, but Antetokounmpo is a better player. Boston is also not sending out any of their important role players in this trade, but they would probably need so send some picks.

Overall

Again, if the price were just right, the Hawks could make a move for Brown, though I think the price point is just going to be too high and they have preached that they are building their team through development and the draft. But again, Saleh is not going to turn down an opportunity to make this team better if it is for the right price.

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