Giannis Antetokounmpo just made it clear that he will not request a trade away from the Milwaukee Bucks. “There will never be a chance, and there will never be a moment that I will come out and say, ‘I want a trade,’ ” Antetokounmpo, who can opt out of his contract in the summer of 2027, told Sam Amick of The Athletic. “That’s not … in … my … nature. OK?”
With that, the Los Angeles Lakers’ biggest dream trade this season just evaporated before their very eyes. Pairing Antetokounmpo next to Luka Doncic for the future would have been absolutely incredible, but if he’s not going to request a trade, the Bucks almost certainly aren’t going to move him.
That dream is done.
Lakers' Giannis dreams are gone (for now)
LA wasn’t mentioned as one of the top potential landing spots when Antetokounmpo rumors were flying around. The New York Knicks and some other Eastern Conference teams were more commonly mentioned.
However, the Lakers would have had a relatively intriguing package for Antetokounmpo. In fact, they may have been able to offer one of the best players in any potential deal: Austin Reaves.
It would have been a steep price to pay, but packaging Reaves, Rui Hachimura, other matching salary, and draft picks could have been enough to sway Milwaukee to send Antetokounmpo to the Lakers.
Regardless, it sounds like Antetokounmpo will be donning green for a while longer, so the Lakers should be shifting their trade-deadline priorities in another direction.
Helping Doncic, Reaves, and LeBron James compete for a championship this season should be the team’s top priority, but they also need to consider planning for the future.
Because of that, finding a way to add quality young pieces would be ideal. Think guys like Trey Murphy III, Nicolas Claxton, or Ayo Dosunmu. Those are the guys LA should be chasing in trades now that Antetokounmpo seems to be officially off the market.
All three of them would be able to help the Lakers, albeit in different ways.
Murphy’s scoring would obviously give the Lakers a great boost at the forward spot, Claxton would provide them with quality defense and an elite lob threat, and Dosunmu would be a perfect 3-and-D guard to pair with Doncic and Reaves.
Just because the Lakers’ chance at star chasing seems to be over doesn’t mean they can’t still improve this season. It just may not be quite as entertaining as February of last year.