The NBA Finals may have just ended, but a blockbuster trade could be on the way shortly.
Per NBA insider Marc Stein, the long-awaited trade that sends Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo elsewhere might be approaching a conclusion. Antetokounmpo has long been rumored to end up in Boston or Miami and there’s been a lot of reports linking Atlanta to the trade as a suitor for Jaylen Brown. Stein had this to say on the situation:
“I have also spoken to teams and well-placed insiders around the league who believe that it remains possible that Antetokounmpo does not ultimately land on South Beach. As we’ve been reporting since late May, Boston is increasingly projected to be the other landing spot that Giannis prefers to be steered to … without overtly pushing as hard as he possibly can.”
“Does Atlanta or Portland want to be the third team that joins the party to acquire Jaylen Brown and help facilitate a trade that makes Antetokounmpo a Celtic? The closest thing to a certainty, as of publication time on this Sunday, is that we’re nearing clarity.”
This report from Stein also suggests that the Heat have momentum in a Giannis deal and if such a deal happened, the package would include Tyler Herro, Ke’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr and the No. 13 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft as certainties.
If Boston is making a serious offer for Giannis, it makes sense why the Bucks don’t want to actually take back Jaylen Brown as part of that deal. They could be getting first-rounders back from both the Celtics and the Hawks, which gives them more potential upside for their future draft capital. It’s highly unlikely that Boston will be a bad team with Giannis in the mix, but the potential ceiling of a Hawks team led by Jaylen Brown and Jalen Johnson is completely unknown. It could result in a massive win for the Bucks if they get those picks in addition to some far-out firsts from Boston.
Even though Boston wouldn’t technically be getting picks back for Jaylen Brown, they might be able to keep more of their immediate draft capital if they agree to re-route those picks to the Bucks. That’s more useful for them anyways because they can use those picks to tinker with the roster around a Giannis-Tatum duo and build a true contender to challenge New York.
Should The Hawks Be The Third Team?
It is true that Jaylen Brown is at minimum, one of the 20 best players in the NBA. It is also true that acquiring him comes with an extreme amount of risk.
The Hawks would be adding a former Finals MVP who was indispensable to the Celtics during their championship run. Brown’s averaged 20+ points for the last seven years of his career, has 142 playoff games under his belt, made the Finals twice and is coming off a great season where he averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game on 47.7/34.7/79.5 shooting splits. He made an All-NBA Second Team last season that suggests he’s among the 15 best players in the NBA.
If the Hawks got him, they’d be adding a huge name to their roster and someone who could make them a contender on paper. He has experience leading an offense now and it’d be fascinating to see how he and Johnson would pair together. Undoubtedly, Brown would free up some attention from Johnson and it’d be fun to see Johnson as more of a hyper-effective lob threat and secondary decision maker. He definitely looked a bit overtaxed as a primary option and it’s possible that adding another scorer of Brown’s caliber would improve his defense and rebounding back to their prior levels.
However, consider the price the Hawks would be paying in both salary cap and draft assets. Brown would probably demand at least two first-round picks at minimum and at least one of those firsts would likely have to come in 2026 or 2027. If it’s 2026, is it really worth sacrificing a chance at a cost-controlled All-Star player?
This is expected to be one of the most talented draft classes that the NBA’s ever seen with three players (maybe four) who are capable of being the No. 1 overall pick in a regular year. Furthermore, the Hawks are pretty much pick-neutral over the next few seasons. However, those 2027 and 2028 picks are tied up in intriguing swaps that might propel them higher than where Atlanta would normally be picking. Is it worth sacrificing them for a player who’s outside the top ten?
The contract that Brown’s on is also an important discussion point. He’s making $57 million next season and it’ll eclipse $60 million in each of the next two years of the deal after 2026-27. That is a huge amount of cap space for someone who hasn’t yet shown that he’s capable of leading a team to a championship as the primary option.
Ultimately, I lean towards not doing this deal. Committing significant draft capital and cap space to a player who hasn’t yet shown he’s capable of being a true No. 1 option is too risky for a team that still has a ton of work to do before they’re a contender. Acquiring Brown means that the Hawks think they’re ready to be a contender now. That flies directly against everything Onsi Saleh has said he believes in since he took the job. He’s preached “future flexibility” and Brown deprives the Hawks of that.
Let’s see whether the Hawks front office has changed their mind.
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