On Monday night, the Milwaukee Bucks traded two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat, passing up an offer from the Boston Celtics.

According to ESPN NBA reporter Shams Charania, the Celtics "aggressively pursued" Antetokounmpo, even offering up a package of 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown and two first-round picks.

But according to Charania, that wasn't enough. The Bucks wanted more assets, including young players like Hugo Gonzalez and Baylor Scheierman. The Celtics weren't willing to go that far.

You can watch the full comments below, and you can read our full analysis of the situation. 

While not acquiring Antetokounmpo surely derailed their top offseason plan, the Celtics should be happy at missing out on this deal.

While Antetokounmpo is a special talent with a Hall of Fame resume, the risks in acquiring him were very real. 

At 31, how is he going to age? How healthy is he going to be moving forward? Antetokounmpo has played more than 70 games in a season just once in the last seven years. Is that health and durability going to get better as he ages more? Probably not.

And were the Celtics really going to want to have to pay him top dollar into his mid-30s while assuming that risk?

And how would he and Jayson Tatum have played together? Could the C's, who were three-point dependent this past season, really change up the way they played to accommodate Antetokounmpo's interior-oriented style?

And finally, the Celtics shouldn't be scared of the Heat, either. While Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo form an excellent interior, it's hard to win with two centers in modern basketball. And after the rest of the roster was gutted to acquire him, what else is there really around them?

As for the two players the Celtics wouldn't give up? Gonzalez played in 74 games this past season, averaging four points a game and serving as a valuable piece when Jayson Tatum was out with injury. That might not be impact in the way fans think of it, but a solid role player is a good niche for a rookie. Scheireman averaged 5.5 points in 77 games, also providing solid minutes. He's a solid outside shooter and should take another step in 2026-27.

The NBA Draft begins on Tuesday night with the Celtics holding picks No. 27 and No. 40. They've been connected to a variety of different players and positions in the draft, and there's still a chance that they could deal their picks in another trade.

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