It was originally reported that the Boston Celtics were unable to close a deal on a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo due to Celtics GM Brad Stevens being unwilling to part ways with some of his young players, but it turns out it was actually all about the money and not being able to reach an agreement.

It was first said that Stevens wouldn’t include Baylor Scheierman or Hugo Gonzalez in the negotiations for Giannis. They’re the two most recent first round draft picks for Boston and they’ve already made a strong impact. But according to Bill Simmons, the Celtics didn’t commit to Giannis due to his request of wanting at least 35% of the cap in his contract extension.

“He didn’t sign off on the Miami trade for a couple days there. And they were talking about extensions with the Celtics, and it came down to two-years and 30% of the cap could be the extension or three-years at 35%. And the Celtics were pretty entrenched at two for 30% and Giannis wanted the three for 35% and they couldn’t agree on it and that was when he green-lit the Miami trade.”

Although this adds some clarity to how the negotiations went, it also explains that trading Jaylen Brown became a necessity for the Celtics due to financial reasons. But trading for Paul George didn’t change too much on the financial side as his contract is just as large as Brown’s, paying him $54.1 million this season.

The Celtics could (and should) still try to make another addition to make up for Brown’s production because George isn’t going to be enough. It was reported they’ve looked into trading for Trey Murphy III, but only time will tell what the overall plan is at this point.

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