The Los Angeles Lakers landed one of the best players in the NBA ahead of last year’s trade deadline when they dealt for Luka Doncic, and they are potentially in the game for another such player this season in the form of Milwaukee Bucks big man Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Marc Stein of “The Stein Line” reported on Sunday, Dec. 14, that the three franchises around the league with the most draft assets to deal for Antetokounmpo are unlikely to even enter a bid.
“There is a growing belief among trade-trackers that San Antonio and Houston, like Oklahoma City, do not plan to join the chase for Antetokounmpo even if the Bucks ultimately do decide to consider in-season proposals for their two-time MVP,” Stein wrote. “All three of those teams, as you can imagine, like what they have going.”
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The lack of those three teams in the market should drive down the trade price for Antetokounmpo, who just turned 31 years old and has missed 10 games already this year due to injury. He has missed at least 15 contests in five of the past six regular seasons and has also dealt with injury struggles in multiple postseasons.
Beyond that, Brian Windhorst of ESPN noted on a Dec. 5 podcast that trade returns are shrinking for aging stars in the NBA’s second-apron era. It is impossible to say exactly what Antetokounmpo might go for, and interest from more than one team will naturally create a bidding war and drive his price up.
But it is more realistic that a team like the Lakers, which can only trade a single first-round pick (2031 or 2032) plus first-round swap rights in five other drafts, will need to make up the difference in terms of player talent. That would definitely mean dealing with guard Austin Reaves, who is averaging 27.8 points, 6.7 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and one steal per game.
Reaves is a potential All-Star this season, which is a huge statement in a wildly talented and deep Western Conference player pool, though he is currently out with a mild calf strain and will be reevaluated in approximately one week. Los Angeles will also have to include several other expiring contracts, essentially all that they have, to aggregate enough salary to match Antetokounmpo’s $54.1 million price tag in 2025-26.
A first-round pick, five swaps and Reaves is a decent start, though it strains credulity that such a package would be enough to entice the Bucks to flip Antetokounmpo ahead of the early February deadline. To get a deal done, the Lakers would probably need to involve at least one more team that could send the Bucks another draft asset or viable long-term player alongside Reaves to truly command Milwaukee’s attention.
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