The NBA might witness a Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes this summer, which could greatly influence the offseason plans of teams like the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs.
San Antonio is one of the clubs with an alleged fighter’s chance at acquiring Giannis based on their trove of draft picks and young talent. The idea of pairing Antetokounmpo with Victor Wembanyama has NBA fans salivating.
But a Giannis-to-Spurs trade is not extremely likely. For one, Antetokounmpo hasn’t formally requested a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks, and he has reason to stay put heading into a 2025-26 season in which the Eastern Conference will be a junior varsity situation when compared with the West.
If and when the Spurs’ supposed Giannis plans fall by the wayside, they might pivot to snagging another superstar from the East.
New intel emerged on Wednesday from Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix pointing to a possible Jaylen Brown deal for the Spurs.
“The team I’d watch the closest with Jaylen Brown is probably the Spurs,” Mannix noted, per NBC Sports Boston’s Justin Leger.
“Sure, I think (the Spurs would) love to make a run at Giannis, but do the Bucks ask for Stephon Castle? Like, is that on their wish list? And if it is, I can’t see San Antonio doing a deal like that.”
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“It certainly is a problem for another day, but that’s on the mind of the San Antonio Spurs. That’s why they want to hold on to Stephon Castle, so he can be that second guy opposite Wembanyama for a long time, assuming they trade that No. 2 pick,” Mannix continued.
“I think if you’re Boston, you’re not going to ask for a Stephon Castle. You’re not going to get a Stephon Castle in a potential Jaylen Brown deal. You would get the No. 2 pick back in return. You would get the Devin Vassells, the Keldon Johnsons, future first-round capital. That’s something I’d watch if and when the Giannis Antetokounmpo stuff shakes itself out over the next few weeks.”
Mannix is spot-on when it comes to identifying Castle as the key piece in all of these potential negotiations.
Castle’s also the reason why a Celtics-Spurs trade involving Brown probably wouldn’t happen.
Boston’s GM Brad Stevens surely wouldn’t be interested in moving Brown to San Antonio unless Castle was coming to Boston in return, and on the other side, the Spurs — as noted by Mannix — surely wouldn’t be interested in including Castle in any package for Brown.
It’s arguable that, from any team’s perspective, acquiring Castle would be a more valuable move than acquiring the No. 2 pick in the upcoming 2025 NBA draft. Castle is a proven performer at the NBA level; the No. 2 pick, of course, is not.
A Brown-to-Spurs deal isn’t likely, but Mannix’s thought process regarding the Giannis sweepstakes and its consequences is intriguing.
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