Despite still being months away from the NBA trade deadline, rumors have swirled around Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. His potential availability has teams salivating at the thought of acquiring him, and the Los Angeles Lakers are likely one of those teams.
It would almost be unfair for him to end up in Los Angeles, especially after they trade-heisted the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic. Even so, Los Angeles tends to end up with the best players at some point in their careers.
And, if Giannis does become available, then they may have an ace up their sleeve to acquire him. As Lakers insider Jovan Buha points out, the Lakers would be better positioned to trade for Giannis after this season.
If he isn’t moved between now and the trade deadline, the Lakers will have three first-round picks available next summer. Obviously, Lakers fans are hoping that they can get in on a potential Giannis sweepstakes. Even so, they don’t currently have enough assets to outbid other teams, forcing L.A. to bide their time.
The Lakers may have to wait to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo
That means for the Lakers to have a realistic shot at acquiring him, he would have to play out next season with the Bucks. That is far from a guarantee and dependent on how well the Bucks play this season.
If they impress, then that might keep him from demanding a trade. If they don’t, then Giannis might ask them out. In that case, the Lakers might want the Bucks to play well enough to keep from demanding a trade until the offseason.
Los Angeles being able to offer up three first-round picks and multiple pick swaps would make for a far more competitive potential offer. Nevertheless, it comes with some trade-offs.
The Lakers have an outside chance at landing Giannis
The most notable is that the Lakers’ top trade asset, Austin Reaves, will become a free agent after next season. That means that he can only be traded ahead of the February deadline. As a result, waiting until the offseason would mean that the Lakers wouldn’t be able to trade him to Milwaukee barring a sign and trade.
Then, there is the fact that the Lakers have a unique situation where they have several other large expiring contracts. Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, and Maxi Kleber could all be moved in a Gannis trade this season but not this summer.
Of course, the Lakers will have massive cap space and could technically absorb Giannis’ contract while offering up all of their firsts going forward. Whether Giannis will be available next summer and whether the Lakers have enough to trade for him is yet to be decided. But they may have an outside chance to land him if everything goes their way.
