It’s finally over. has been traded to the , ending what felt like an epic longer than Homer’s “The Odyssey.” Details of the trade could still change, as it won’t be made official until July 6, but Antetokounmpo’s time in Milwaukee is over. He’ll team up with in Miami as the Heat try to build a championship roster in the Eastern Conference.
With Antetokounmpo’s situation now settled, we can turn our focus to other matters, like the fallout from the ‘ decision to send him to Miami. Let’s take a look at the landscape and see what the latest chatter is on Day 1 of the 2026 .
The lost the Giannis sweepstakes, and part of what makes this a double-edged sword in Boston is that they’ve now signaled to Brown that they’re willing to trade him. The 2024 Finals MVP, who willed this team to a No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with playing just 16 regular-season games, is suddenly on the trading block.
It’s unclear if Boston still plans on making Brown available on the trade market, because trading him for a two-time MVP is significantly different than a few role players and draft compensation. But ESPN’s Brian Windhorst expects there to be a for Brown this summer. Windhorst also said that a Brown trade “could happen today” if a draft pick is involved in the deal.
Brown being available isn’t exactly surprising; the Celtics have tossed his name around in trade talks before. There were also his telling comments at the end of this season, when he called it his “favorite season” of his career. Not the season where he and Tatum led the Celtics to a championship, but a year in which Boston crashed out of the first round of the playoffs following a season during which Tatum was sidelined for the majority of it, leading to Brown becoming the central star on the team. Could Brown want a team of his own instead of shuffling between 1A and 1B status alongside Tatum? Perhaps. Windhorst reported before the Antetokounmpo trade that Brown has thought about being the main man on a team for “some time.”
“And I understand that the initial response is going to be, ‘Well, what does think about this?'” Windhorst said on “First Take.” “From what I understand, Jaylen Brown is accepting this and realizes this is a chance to turn the page in his career and that he may be getting his own team, which is something that he has thought about for some time.”
It appears as though this might be a mutual situation in Boston, and if teams are willing to offer a haul for the All-Star forward, then you have to consider it.
After all the will-they won’t-they, the Bucks may still not be satisfied with the deal they’ve made to send Antetokounmpo to the Heat. The trade won’t be made official until July 6, leaving plenty of room for adjustments, or even the possibility of adding other teams to the deal. While Herro is headed to his hometown team in the current framework of the deal, the Bucks are open to listening to trade offers for the All-Star guard, per .
At 26 years old, Herro is expected to have a “robust” trade market, with the among teams reportedly interested in acquiring the scoring guard if the Bucks decide to send him elsewhere. Given that the Bucks didn’t choose Boston’s trade because they ultimately didn’t want to end up in a similar situation with Brown wanting out in a year, it makes sense why they would also consider trading Herro for likely the same reasons. It also makes sense given that Milwaukee wants to stockpile draft assets. They got three picks from the Heat in this deal, but that return could potentially be significantly bigger if they move Herro too.
