Basketball Wiretap

The Milwaukee Bucks have asked for more from teams interested in trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo during this round of trade talks than they did ahead of the February trade deadline, reports Jake Fischer.

The sentiment relayed to Fischer is that the Bucks have been "unrealistic" in their ask to part with Antetokounmpo. Teams fear that meeting the asking price set by the Bucks will leave the roster too devoid of talent to compete for a title after acquiring Antetokounmpo. 

The Bucks have found the market for Antetokounmpo to be less robust than anticipated with the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics currently considered the most viable trade partners. Teams like the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks have not entered the bidding. However, the Minnesota Timberwolves circled back around with the Bucks to see if pairing Antetokounmpo with Anthony Edwards was plausible. 

The Celtics realize that they can't acquire Antetokounmpo without trading back Jaylen Brown and they are reluctant to offer much more along with their All-NBA wing.

The perception has been that the Bucks are operating as though they have a passable trade offer on the table from the Heat and are attempting to see if they can improve upon it before Tuesday's draft. Miami is offering a package built around Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and the No. 13 overall pick.

The NBA's creation of a new league in Europe is right on track. The NBA plans to name the winning bidders for the 12 permanent franchise members of the new league in the next 60 to 90 days. Those teams will be located in the following cities:

• Rome, Italy
• Milan, Italy
• London, England
• Manchester, England
• Paris, France
• Lyon, France
• Madrid, Spain
• Barcelona, Spain
• Berlin, Germany
• Munich, Germany
• Athens, Greece
• Istanbul, Turkey

NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum has been heading the project on the league's behalf. Tatum said the league remains on track to debut in October, 2027.

"We’re on a very, very quick timeline here," Tatum said. "We’re going to identify the right partners in the right cities, and we’re going to take as much time as we need in order to identify those right partners. We’re talking not only existing basketball teams in the ecosystem, but we’re talking to soccer teams that currently don’t have basketball teams that are interested, and we’re also talking to individuals and other entities who don’t have a basketball team but want to invest in a basketball team."

Tatum said that the European teams could eventually play NBA teams in preseason games. Eventually, Tatum said that the two leagues could combine and play against each other in the Emirates NBA Cup. Tatum also said that league is working with streaming partners for the broadcast component for the new league.

"There has been an incredible amount of inbound interest on taking those games and distributing them not only throughout Europe but globally," Tatum said. "We have no doubt that it will create some global interest, and therefore media partners are very interested in carrying that content."

Isaiah Stewart is bracing for a trade from the Detroit Pistons this offseason as they put him on the trade block in order to balance out their roster with more shooting.

Stewart is receiving interest from several teams including the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs.

The Pistons are believed to be ready to rely more on Paul Reed as the backup center behind Jalen Duren, who they will presumably re-sign in restricted free agency.

Stewart has $30 million over two seasons remaining on his contract with a team option for the 2027-28 season.

Stewart appeared in 58 games last season, averaging 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in 22.7 minutes.

The Boston Celtics inquired with the Minnesota Timberwolves at the trade deadline about the availability of Rudy Gobert.

The Wolves are not believed to be actively shopping Gobert despite their ongoing efforts to shake up their roster.

Rival teams have received the impression that Julius Randle is the player they would prefer to trade should a scenario present itself.

Gobert signed a three-year, $109.5 million extension with the Wolves before the 2024-25 season that runs through the 2027-28 season. Gobert has continued to be one of the NBA's elite defensive centers.

The Washington Wizards are said to be giving "increased consideration" to drafting Darryn Peterson with the first overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. It was recently reported that Peterson is working out only for the Wizards ahead of the draft.

The choice at No. 1 seems to be down to the Kansas product Peterson and A.J. Dybantsa of BYU. Dybantsa had been the favorite for a while, but as the draft has drawn closer, Peterson's case as the first pick has picked up momentum.

If the Wizards select Peterson, the Utah Jazz are expected to be more than happy to snag Dybantsa with the No. 2 pick. The Jazz have a great relationship with Dybantsa through owner Ryan Smith's connection to BYU.

Despite speculation that Cameron Boozer could also be in line for the first overall pick, he seems more likely to land with the Memphis Grizzlies at No. 3. That would then put the Chicago Bulls in position to select Caleb Wilson with the fourth overall pick.

The Boston Celtics remain engaged in trading for Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. If Boston is unable to complete a deal for Antetokounmpo, the Celtics could pivot to trading for Trey Murphy III of the New Orleans Pelicans. Murphy has drawn a lot of interest from teams around the league.

The Celtics have a large enough trade exception to fit Murphy's contract into, which would lessen the amount of salary the Pelicans would have to take back in a deal. Boston also has multiple first-round picks that they could offer in a deal.

Draft capital seems to be a holdup in a potential Celtics deal for Antetokounmpo. Boston reportedly feels that offering Jaylen Brown (whose salary nearly matches Antetokounmpo's on its own) for the superstar big man should be enough. The Celtics could offer first-round picks to push a deal across the line, but thus far haven't done so.

The Portland Trail Blazers have "serious interest" in acquiring Jaylen Brown if he is made available by the Boston Celtics, sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic. If the Celtics agree to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks, the Blazers would be in a unique position to insert themselves into the trade and acquire Brown as they control Milwaukee's first round pick in 2028, 2029 and 2030 via the 2023 Damian Lillard trade. 

Brown would feel an obvious need for the Blazers as a two-way All-NBA player on the wing.

Brown is eligible for a contract extension this offseason, but he is signed through the 2028-29 season and would give the Blazers some level of control over the situation.

Brown appeared in 71 games last season, averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 34.4 minutes in what was his best individual season of his career.

Orlando Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman wasn't going to directly address rumors that his team is a "dark horse" to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo. But Weltman was willing to say that he sees it as a good thing that his team is in rumors linked to such a good player.

"I take it as a compliment that we have a lot of players that the league is interested in and that we could even be thrown into that conversation speaks to the talent on this roster. So, that’s my big takeaway from that," Weltman said after relaying he's not allowed to talk about another team's players directly.

While speaking at new head coach Sean Sweeney's introductory press conference, Weltman recognized that Orlando has a lot of work to do to improve their roster.

"We’re doing all the work that we need to (do) to try to puzzle the roster out," Weltman said. "I do think there’s some kind of basic holes that we want to punch where we can improve the roster and augment the players that we have."

The Magic are entering the offseason above the first apron and nearing the second apron. Orlando will resolve Jonathan Isaac's standing on the roster before June 28, when Isaac's contract becomes fully guaranteed. Trading or waiving Isaac could give the Magic much-needed wiggle room around the aprons.

Darryn Peterson has retaken the top spot in ESPN's final 2026 NBA draft rankings, pushing AJ Dybantsa down to No. 2 just days before Tuesday's draft, according to ESPN's Jeremy Woo.

Woo's update reverses a shift that occurred earlier this year, when Dybantsa had overtaken Peterson on the board following a strong stretch of play in February and March. Peterson, who entered the season as the presumptive favorite to go first overall, battled a difficult health situation at Kansas that limited his availability and conditioning down the stretch.

Despite those struggles, Woo wrote that NBA teams have not expressed concern over Peterson's long-term health outlook. Scouts continue to view the 19-year-old guard as a future star, with some comparing his game stylistically to Devin Booker.

"The more I've learned from various league sources about Peterson -- most importantly, hearing about NBA teams' current comfort level with his medicals -- the more comfortable I feel viewing his season as a one-off," wrote Woo. "I'm focusing on his special traits that point to stardom and are worth whatever the perceived risk might be."

Dybantsa, a 19-year-old forward, led all of Division I in scoring at BYU while shooting 51 percent from the field and developing into a more willing passer as the year progressed. His trajectory has drawn comparisons to wings such as Kawhi Leonard and Jaylen Brown.

Duke forward Cameron Boozer rounds out the top three in ESPN's rankings. Analysts have likened Boozer's all-around skill set to veterans Kevin Love, Al Horford and Domantas Sabonis.

DraftExpress' Jonathan Givony joins Woo in ranking Peterson first over Dybantsa, while The Athletic's Sam Vecenie has Peterson third, behind Dybantsa at No. 1 and Boozer at No. 2.

Both the Washington Wizards at No. 1 and the Utah Jazz at No. 2 appear to be genuinely undecided on their own internal rankings despite the draft quickly approaching on Tuesday.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have been linked to several star-level players in trade rumors. For now, Minnesota's interest in trying to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo has cooled. The Wolves are looking to add another guard however. Minnesota reportedly has interest in Derrick White of the Boston Celtics.

White is set to make $30.3 million this season, with $67.4 million owed to him through the 2028-29 season. The final season is a player option for White.

There have been no indications that the Celtics are looking to move White. It's unclear what the Timberwolves would have to offer Boston in a trade. Minnesota is light on draft capital, and the matching salary would likely have to come in the form of Julius Randle. It's unclear if Randle would be of interest to the Celtics, so the Wolves may have to look for a third team to pull off a deal for White.