The Boston Celtics are indeed in on Giannis Antetokounmpo. And that alone will make the Miami Heat's chances of landing the superstar forward that much less likely.
Overnight, Marc Stein confirmed Bill Simmons' report that the Celtics are indeed in pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo. To what extent is the real question. However, Stein did say that Simmons was "spot on" in his reporting.
“My old friend Bill Simmons beat me to it..Bill was the first one to talk about Giannis’ interest in Boston and from everything I’ve heard the last 2-3 weeks, his report was spot on.”
The questions the Heat need answered
Of course, there are still plenty of questions that need to be answered. For one, how far are the Celtics willing to go for Giannis? Is this just a situation where they may have checked in with the Milwaukee Bucks as part of due diligence, or is this a scenario where Boston is willing to do what it takes to beat one of their rivals to the punch?
What comes with that is the questions surrounding Jaylen Brown.
As Stein said in his live show, if the Celtics are serious about their Giannis pursuit, they're going to have to trade Jaylen Brown. Up until now, there's still no concrete reporting that suggests the Celtics are there yet.
Could that already be in motion behind the scenes? Absolutely. But it would be foolish to treat that as gospel right now.
But especially for a team like the Heat, that's very well what their chances of landing Giannis could come down to. In other words, what are the Celtics really doing as they sniff around Giannis?
Are they simply trying to make life more difficult for the Heat, perhaps allowing themselves to be used as leverage for the Bucks, or is there genuine interest there? If there is, the Celtics, because of the Brown factor, have the ability to spoil the Heat's big offseason plans.
Theoretically speaking, it's the Celtics that have the best chance of beating out the Heat's offer that may reportedly already be on the table. Boston's ability to use Brown as an asset to get exactly what the Bucks are seeking from a third or fourth team is the great fear for Heat fans.
Heat's offseason can go south quickly
If the Celtics are willing to go the lengths it takes to land Giannis, that could completely alter the Heat's offseason plans.
Because if no Giannis, it's hard to imagine what's next for Miami. There have been whispers that they could pivot toward a Kawhi Leonard pursuit, but, at that point, who knows if that's a worthy path to go down. Especially if the Celtics just added Giannis.
The Heat's big plans this summer have all involved Giannis. And up to now, there's been a sense that the Heat are in a good spot to execute on that dream. However, if the Celtics are indeed all-in, that might've just changed the Heat's entire outlook over these next few weeks. And not in a good way.
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