There has been significant speculation around Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future ever since the summer. After the recent bombshell revelation on Antetokounmpo accelerating the timeline on his potential exit, it was also rumored that Luka Doncic has been urging the Lakers’ front office to try and bring Antetokounmpo to Los Angeles.
This created significant hope and buzz among the Lakers fans that the Greek superstar could potentially join the Lakers. However, ESPN’s NBA insider Brian Windhorst believes that the only way the Lakers could land Giannis Antetokounmpo is if he explicitly states that he wants to play there and forces the Bucks front office’s hand to take their offer.
“If Giannis said to the Bucks, ‘Trade me to the Lakers.’ He would be he would be a Laker. But any other way, I don’t see how the Lakers do it because I don’t think the Lakers can win a bidding war,” claimed Windhorst in his recent appearance on ‘The Rich Eisen Show.’
“If it’s a bidding war where there are teams offering draft picks and players and stuff, I don’t know how long-winded you want me to go here, but the Bucks don’t control their next three drafts.”
“So the Bucks potentially starting a rebuild where they are like, ‘okay we’re going to we’re going to sink down and get that…’ doesn’t work because they don’t control their picks. So, the Bucks probably are either going to want real players who help them today in a trade, or they’re going to want draft picks from a third team,” Windhorst further explained.
“What I mean by that is a third team is me having my draft pick doesn’t work. I don’t control the next three. I’m trading you, Giannis Antetokounmpo, your team’s going to be awesome. Giving me your draft picks for the next couple of years isn’t doing me any good. Do you have a third team’s picks that might be valuable?”
Any team that Antetokounmpo joins could propel them to the next level. He is currently averaging 28.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists while shooting 63.9% from the field, playing at an MVP caliber level on the right team.
It is unlikely that he would join a team that is on the same level as the Bucks, since the main reason he could potentially leave is to compete for a championship. Therefore, even if everyone might be willing to gut their roster to get Antetokounmpo, there are only a few teams that would have a realistic chance of landing him in a trade.
“And so these are all things that would be valuable. I don’t think the Lakers have a package that can out that can win out teams that have draft picks, have good players, and have third party. There are teams out there that are good teams that have third-party draft picks that could offer,” said Windhorst as a grim reality check for the Lakers.
“So I don’t think the Lakers can win a bidding war, but if Giannis says, ‘Make me a Laker.’ Yes, there’s a deal there that could happen because the Lakers have a bunch of expiring contracts that I think could make it. But I do think it would be a bit of a journey to get there, but not impossible,” concluded Windhorst on an optimistic note.
Windhorst believes that the Lakers do not have a trade asset that could entice the Bucks to accept their offer. Any potential deals that the Lakers would be willing to do would exclude their core pieces like Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
It seems that so far, the Greek superstar prefers staying in the Eastern Conference, as the only teams that his representation has reportedly reached out to are the Knicks and the Bulls, both of whom play in the same conference as the Bucks and do not seem inclined to gut their roster for Antetokounmpo.
If Antetokounmpo decides to gauge his options in the Western Conference, he would, in fact, likely initiate a bidding war among teams. Unless he specifically says he wants to head to the Lakers, it is unlikely that the Lakers come out ahead in that war.
Therefore, the Lakers fans will hope that Hollywood is attractive enough for the Greek superstar to potentially attract him to Los Angeles.
