Would Celtics turn to Jayson Tatum to sign off on a Jaylen Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo trade?

After Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 2025-26 campaign at the conclusion of the regular season, Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics blew a 3-1 lead in their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Veteran center Joel Embiid shared a laugh with Jayson Tatum moments after Game 7 at TD Garden. In his fourth playoff meeting against the Celtics, Embiid had finally sent Tatum, Brown, and the rest of the Celtics home for the first time in his career.

Except this time, Tatum was donning street clothes. Regardless of which side of the fence you stand on regarding how appropriate it is for Tatum to share a laugh with Embiid after a Game 7 loss, the exchange between Tatum and Embiid won’t have any bearing on Brown’s future with the team. The Giannis Antetokounmpo rumors would persist regardless. The Bucks’ inevitable divorce is happening.

The Celtics had one of the best regular-season records in the NBA and lost in the first round, blowing a 3-1 lead for the first time in franchise history. Change is on the way. Antetokounmpo was bound to be linked to the Celtics. If anything, watching Tatum’s candid conversation with Embiid was a glaring reminder of how disconnected Tatum was with this year’s Celtics team.

Spending most of the regular season recovering from a ruptured Achilles, a process that was expedited for Jayson to return in March. One week after his return, Tatum reverted to playing 35+ minutes, which prompted head coach Joe Mazzulla to adopt a much more conservative rotation. That didn’t sit well with Brown, who watched the team he led to one of the NBA’s best regular-season records conform to a player who missed almost every Celtics game through half of March.

As the Celtics weigh how to improve their roster to compete with the champion New York Knicks, their decision on whether to enter the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes or keep their Tatum-Brown tandem intact has set the tone for an intriguing offseason of change.

The Celtics would love to have their cake and eat it, too. However, landing Antetokounmpo without sacrificing Brown seems less likely as both teams inch closer to a proverbial deadline; reports suggest the Bucks will land a deal ahead of Tuesday’s draft. The Miami Heat remain a favorite for Antetokounmpo, with many speculating that only the Celtics could poach Giannis from Pat Riley.

But how does Tatum feel about potentially playing alongside Giannis? Does he feel more confident alongside Brown, who helped lead the Celtics to a championship in 2024, despite how much the roster has changed since then? Veterans such as Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis — vital pieces to Boston’s championship run two years ago — are no longer walking through that door. This is a significant factor in Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens’ decision about the future.

Does trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo give the Celtics a better chance to beat the champion New York Knicks? At the same time, how will Brown’s frustrations translate with a healthy Tatum and the rest of the Celtics in 2026-27? These are questions the Celtics front office will need to answer and decide without Tatum’s input. But I’d expect Jayson to receive a phone call as a courtesy, and not risk receiving a protest after the fact.

Jaylen is coming off the best season of his career. The Celtics’ All-NBA tandem is still under 30. He could perform at an even higher level next season — motivated by the trade talks, criticism over live streams, and calling 2025-26 his favorite season.

Still, just as Boston conformed amidst his emphatic return last season, this is still Tatum’s team. If he and the front office are intrigued by an Antetokounmpo-Tatum tandem to compete against Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and the champion Knicks, then Stevens won’t be afraid to pull the trigger on the blockbuster trade everyone’s been talking about.

Plus, if you’re Giannis, the idea of playing alongside Tatum for Joe Mazzulla has to have a slight edge over Bam Adebayo and head coach Erik Spoelstra in terms of his best chances to compete for a title against the Knicks.

Jayson Tatum is Giannis Antetokounmpo’s draw, threat to Heat

The Celtics are reportedly in the mix for Antetokounmpo. The Heat remain high on Antetokounmpo’s shortlist of destination favorites, but they haven’t engaged the Bucks in any trade talks around Brown, according to The Stein Line’s Jake Fischer.

“League sources with knowledge of the situation maintained that Boston had not yet seriously engaged Milwaukee on an Antetokounmpo trade,” Fischer wrote. “But they also declined to rule out the possibility of the Celtics eventually entering the fray.

“Rival teams, furthermore, continue to point to Boston’s various assets as illustrating its ability to become a factor here. They also note that Antetokounmpo shares a skills coach with Jayson Tatum (Drew Hanlen) and is believed to have a level of interest in landing with the Celtics on top of his well-chronicled affinity for Miami.”

Still, without a piqued interest from the Celtics, the Heat remain a reported favorite to land Antetokounmpo.

“Those same sources likewise insist that the Celtics have yet to engage in any meaningful trade conversation this spring involving Jaylen Brown after Brown’s tremendous 2025-26 campaign,” Fischer added. “But it also hasn’t been categorically dismissed as a possibility. This much is clear: Boston is believed to be a potential suitor that genuinely concerns Miami.”

However, things changed last week — a conflicting report suggested the Celtics did make an offer to the Bucks for Antetokounmpo. Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor also stated that he’s heard the Celtics are willing to trade anyone besides Tatum for Antetokounmpo. Sometimes, this is how the small chatter builds before a blockbuster trade materializes.

“Giannis wants to win. What team offers him the best opportunity to win? In all likelihood, the Boston Celtics,” O’Connor said, per NBC Sports Boston. “It’s just going to be a matter of, can the Celtics find an appropriate third team to land Jaylen Brown?

“It seems like all indications are the Milwaukee Bucks don’t want Jaylen Brown as their key return. They’d rather have a haul of picks, multiple pieces, rather than just Jaylen Brown. I doubt Jaylen Brown would even want Milwaukee either at this point in his career. He wants to win somewhere else.”

Still, getting a third team involved is where things get tricky for the Celtics. The Hawks, the Blazers, and the Clippers have been mentioned as potential suitors to help facilitate a three-team deal with the Bucks. The Celtics would get Antetokounmpo, the third team would get Brown, and the Bucks would get draft capital and young pieces for the future.

These reports should worry Riley and the Heat for two reasons: One, the third team involved could compile a track package greater than anything the Heat can offer. Two, from the outside looking in, the Celtics look like the better option to satisfy Giannis’ quest to win a second title.

Are Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in communication?

While pairing Giannis Antetokounmpo with Bam Adebayo and company sounds like an interesting start to a potential title-contender, Giannis and Jayson Tatum feel like a much bigger threat to the defending champion Knicks. This assumes the Celtics retain most of their rotation, virtually swap out Brown for Antetokounmpo, use a $15 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception (MLE) to sign a proven free agent, and have a $27.7 million trade exception to acquire a valuable player.

And if you’re Antetokounmpo, you know joining the Celtics over the Heat drastically increases the likelihood of winning a championship. Given what everyone saw Joe Mazzulla do with a Brown-led Celtics team, with a rotation that included fringe G League players, and a starting center who would have reprised a backup role for most NBA teams.

Commending Mazzulla’s leadership and guidance as a signal, perhaps, not just to the Bucks front office but to Tatum and the Celtics, Antetokounmpo made it clear that he respects Boston’s culture.

You know who would be a terrific guest to join Celtics’ Jaylen Brown during one of his live streams? Jayson Tatum. While it’s no secret that the two All-NBA champions aren’t the closest of friends off the court, they proved they can win on it in 2024. However, amid a critical offseason for all parties involved, Giannis Antetokounmpo, in the Bucks’ trade sweepstakes, must have somehow communicated with Tatum.

If not, that talk is coming soon if negotiations between the Celtics and Bucks heat up. And if Brown is hell-bent on remaining with the Celtics, it would be a great time to have a chat with Tatum. Perhaps they have. It shouldn’t be a talk revealed to the public—one can only speculate.

Brown calling 2025-26 his favorite season perhaps sent the wrong signal to the Celtics front office as it decides whether to add another chapter to its All-NBA tandem or split them up for good.

Either way, this is a conversation for Tatum and Brown to have. And if I’m Giannis Antetokounmpo, and truly pushing for a trade to Boston, I’m talking to Jayson Tatum first, second, and last, to convince him we’re the NBA’s future championship-winning tandem, because the clock’s ticking.

Less than one week away from draft night, the Giannis Antetokounmpo for Jaylen Brown decision will be made much sooner rather than later for the Celtics.

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