The Los Angeles Lakers head into the offseason with among the most cap space of any team in the NBA. They project to have close to $50 million, including the cap hold of unrestricted free agent Austin Reaves. With cap space comes the flexibility to build a team in multiple ways.
They could go the simple route of securing top free agents — not an impressive list this summer — by offering them more than most other teams can. But they can also use their cap space to acquire players via trade without having to send back significant, or any, salary. And that could be the plan with Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo is slated to make $58.5 million in 2026-27, then has a player option worth $62.8 million for 2027-28. Right now, he has yet to give any serious indication that he wants to leave Milwaukee — same as it has been for nearly a half-decade — but the Lakers may be holding on hope that they can land him if he changes his mind this summer, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
The Lakers, team sources told ESPN, obviously see the appeal in Antetokounmpo and believe they would be one of the teams on a very short list if the Bucks star asks for a trade out of Milwaukee.
A Western Conference executive told ESPN he believes Antetokounmpo is the “big prize” the Lakers hope to land, should the Milwaukee Bucks decide to trade the 2021 NBA Finals MVP in the offseason.
But Antetokounmpo is no guarantee to be traded, despite how the saga has played out with the Bucks and their longtime superstar so far. The Lakers know Milwaukee can use the offseason to try to make the team more competitive and persuade him to sign an extension, which he becomes eligible to do on Oct. 1, rather than accept trading him as an inevitability.
The first issue here is that Giannis has not requested a trade and the Bucks have given no indication that they would trade him without a request. There were some rumblings ahead of the deadline, but nothing came to fruition, echoing similar sentiments from year’s past.
If he does request a trade and does name the Lakers on his shortlist, the question then becomes if they have enough to win the bidding war among Antetokounmpo’s preferred teams. L.A. would be able to offer three first-round picks and three swaps on draft night this summer.
They also would have to figure out with Reaves if he would be willing to go to Milwaukee and if the Bucks want him back, as coordinating it as a sign-and-trade with Reaves might be the only way a deal gets done.
As it stands, all indications point towards trading for Giannis being a long-shot. But having cap space allows the flexibility to dream big without it completing disrupting long-term team building.
Luka Doncic calls Lakers organization better than Mavericks
One big way the Lakers could get Antetokounmpo on board is with some recruitment from Luka Doncic. And the Lakers star, by all accounts, has loved what he’s seen in the year-plus since arriving on the scene.
“I think the organization is better here. The Lakers are a truly legendary club and the organization is legendary too,” the Slovenian superstar blurted out.
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