An interesting new rumor suggests that the Los Angeles Lakers will become serious players in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade market if he stays in Milwaukee past Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
There is no bigger story in the NBA right now than the future of Milwaukee Bucks superstar. After speculation about a trade swirled since the summer, an awful start to the 2025-26 season became too much for the Greek icon to deal with after three straight first-round playoff eliminations, and he allegedly let the team know he is ready for a divorce.
Over the last week, the Bucks have reportedly been listening to trade offers from the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, and New York Knicks. A major team that is usually linked to trades for superstars but has been a non-factor in the current bidding war is the LA Lakers.
After being on the right end of a historic trade for Luka Doncic this time last year, the front office has wanted to hold on to its assets and future salary-cap flexibility as it looks to build around the young superstar. So, as of now, they can’t make the Bucks a worthwhile offer for the two-time NBA MVP. However, they will be a serious contender if he is up for grabs after the season.
LA Lakers will be serious contenders for Giannis trade in the offseason
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Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
“If the Bucks do ultimately decide to take this saga into that spring, the Lakers, league sources say, would then indeed become a very viable threat to land No. 34,” NBA insider Marc Stein claims.
“The hope for the purple-and-gold would be to use their considerable projected salary cap space to be able to take in a contract like Antetokounmpo’s via trade — or another star if one shakes loose — to pair with backcourt cornerstones Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves,” he added. “And dealing with the Lakers in such a scenario would almost certainly spare the Bucks from getting saddled with unwanted contracts.”
While the LA Lakers would need to hope a trade isn’t made before the NBA trade deadline, the prevailing belief heading into Thursday is that it would be in the Bucks’ best interest to wait until the offseason to make a trade.
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After earning his journalism degree in 2017, Jason Burgos served as a contributor to several sites, including MMA Sucka ... More about Jason Burgos