For 44 years, the Philadelphia 76ers had not beaten the Boston Celtics in a playoff series. The Philadelphia 76ers ended Boston’s 44-year playoff series drought last week in seven games, and the fallout from that first-round exit is moving faster than anyone anticipated. Less than a week after the final buzzer, one of Boston’s most plugged-in reporters has confirmed what the rumor mill had been building toward: the Celtics want Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the price of getting him almost certainly runs through Jaylen Brown.
Speaking on his show, Celtics and NBA reporter Bobby Manning gave the clearest insider signal yet on Boston’s intentions.
“Clear that the Celtics have some interest in making this happen. So this could speed up quickly here,” Manning said. He was equally direct about the basketball case: “If you’re playing for championships, this is the kind of move you do. You know he has the drive, you know he has defensive aptitude, rebounding — there are so many things he brings to the table.” Manning acknowledged the cost explicitly: “Obviously, your shooting gets a little bit worse, but it’s not like Jaylen (Brown) lighting the world up from three either.”
The framing is pointed. Manning is not hedging around Brown’s likely inclusion in any package — he is pre-justifying it.
The Giannis to Boston possibility feels real and I like it. pic.twitter.com/pIpm48xh8b
— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) May 12, 2026
The structural argument Manning builds is compelling precisely because of what the Celtics exposed about themselves in the first round. Boston finished the regular season ranked 27th in the league in points in the paint, 44.3 per game, while leading the entire NBA in three-point attempts.
Manning addressed that directly: “You do need to slide a wing over to center based on where your roster is right now. You just don’t have a way to upgrade at the center in a straightforward fashion.”
He then used the Indiana Pacers’ acquisition of Ivica Zubac as the reference point: “We saw what the Pacers just paid to acquire Zubac. Why not pay that premium for a superstar at center and not just a guy filling that role at a high level?”
The answer, in Manning’s framing, is that you pay it because Giannis Antetokounmpo is not a roster upgrade. He is a franchise reset.
Shams Charania corroborated Manning’s read, reporting that the Celtics were among several playoff teams — alongside the Timberwolves, Cavaliers, Knicks, and Lakers — that pursued Antetokounmpo at the February trade deadline.
Boston’s finish, a first-round exit after blowing a 3-1 series lead, could not have been more damaging to their leverage, but it simultaneously makes the case for a blockbuster swing more urgent, not less.
Antetokounmpo, for his part, has told The Athletic’s Sam Amick that he wants to be moved to a “true championship contender” and prefers to stay in the Eastern Conference, a description that fits Boston’s identity, even if its postseason résumé this spring does not.
“A Lot to Love Here”: Why the Celtics’ Case for Giannis Makes Sense
Manning’s most persuasive point was the one about roster depth preservation. Unlike most blockbuster trades that hollow out a team’s supporting cast, a Giannis acquisition built around Jaylen Brown and draft capital would allow Boston to keep the infrastructure that has made it a consistent contender.
“You retain your depth, like, a lot,” Manning said. “There is a lot to love here.” Brad Stevens expressed a clear desire in his end-of-season press conference for “more of an impact at the rim,” and Antetokounmpo, the league leader in dunks per game over the past two seasons and a former Defensive Player of the Year, addresses that need in the most direct way imaginable.
The three-point volume that defined and ultimately undermined Boston’s Game 7 loss to Philadelphia would be structurally corrected by a player who lives and wins in the paint.
Antetokounmpo himself recently praised Joe Mazzulla by name, publicly citing the Celtics coach’s refusal to make excuses despite losing key rotation players in the offseason as an example of the winning culture he is looking for. That is not a standard thing for a player to say about a coach on a team he has no connection to, and it will not have been lost on Boston’s front office.
Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam has publicly stated he wants Antetokounmpo’s future resolved before the NBA Draft on June 23, which means the window for this trade is narrower than it might appear. Manning said more videos detailing potential trade frameworks will be released later this week. The Celtics’ summer just got very complicated, and for Jaylen Brown, very personal.
