Why Lakers never had a shot at Giannis Antetokounmpo trade

It was on Monday night when the dream of 28 other NBA teams died. The Milwaukee Bucks, after a drawn-out trade saga involving the greatest player in franchise history, Giannis Antetokounmpo, decided to trade the Greek Freak to the Miami Heat for a package headlined by Tyler Herro. It was always going to be a long shot, but the Los Angeles Lakers must have felt like it was a missed opportunity for them not to be able to go after Antetokounmpo anymore to pair him with Luka Doncic.

The Lakers have reinforced the notion over the past year or so that Lakers exceptionalism is a real thing. They were able to acquire Doncic, who was then a 25-year-old star in his prime, for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and an unprotected first-round pick in 2029 — a major bargain for a perennial MVP candidate who was fresh off leading the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2024.

This then fueled the idea that somehow, the Lakers could find a way to bring Antetokounmpo to LA the same way Palpatine somehow returned in the ninth chapter of the iconic Star Wars main line series.

But that was never going to happen, not with the way everything was shaping up in the Giannis trade talks. Here are a few reasons why the Lakers never had a realistic shot at acquiring Antetokounmpo to begin with.

The Lakers trade for Giannis with what assets?

Fast forward to today, and the Lakers can’t even cobble together the assets that make a trade with the Bucks for Giannis legal. Even if the salary cap rules were not in effect, there is no way LA has the assets that would make Milwaukee look their way.

Seriously: the Lakers only have six players under contract for next season thus far, and of those six, only five of them have guaranteed contracts (Doncic, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia, Dalton Knecht, Adou Thiero, with Bronny James’ contract being partially guaranteed).

Doncic, of course, is the franchise cornerstone in LA. There is no way the Lakers are trading him for Giannis, as that misses out on the point entirely.

A package of Vanderbilt, LaRavia, Knecht, Thiero, and Bronny is nowhere near good enough to make a trade with the Bucks work. Moreover, when putting together the salaries of those five players, they are nowhere near matching Antetokounmpo’s cap hit for next season ($58.46 million).

Perhaps the Lakers could have urged the Bucks to wait for a potential sign-and-trade involving Austin Reaves or maybe even LeBron James. But Milwaukee was operating on a strict timeline, wanting to pull off a deal prior to the night of the 2026 NBA Draft.

Even then, due to Doncic’s presence on the roster, the Lakers’ future picks don’t hold much value, making it all the more impossible to trade for Giannis.

Giannis did not force his way to LA

Over 50 years ago, a disgruntled Bucks star was fed up with his situation and was putting pressure on the team to trade him away, preferably to a big market like Los Angeles or New York. He got his way, with the Bucks trading him away to the Lakers for future superstar talent and plenty of draft assets, which set up Milwaukee to contend for the long run.

Wait, that’s not what happened.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held his end of the bargain in Milwaukee, but he felt that the team was not going to be able to give him the chance to compete for another title. The Bucks then traded him to the Lakers for a package of four players which included Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters, Elmore Smith, and Dave Meyers.

Suffice to say, those four players had nowhere near the same kind of impact Abdul-Jabbar had. Bridgeman had a long career in Milwaukee but he was never a star, Winters made two All-Star teams with Milwaukee but he chose to retire early, Smith didn’t last long with the team, and Meyers’ career was ruined by injuries.

At the time, that trade package was solid, if unspectacular. Bridgeman and Meyers were highly-touted prospects, after all. Even then, it’s hard not to think that the Bucks simply settled for that package from the Lakers since Abdul-Jabbar was forcing their hand. That was a different era, and even then, the Bucks were well and truly fleeced in that deal.

Perhaps a repeat of what happened over five decades ago could have happened had Giannis been adamant about wanting to be in LA and LA only. He did reportedly inform the Bucks of his preferred destinations; however, LA was not on his three-team list (Heat, Boston Celtics, and Minnesota Timberwolves).

Giannis did not want to play on the West Coast, perhaps due to his reluctance to be so far away from Milwaukee, the place he basically grew up in after being drafted there in 2013.

Heck, even if Giannis forced his way to LA, the Bucks simply could have called his bluff and traded him elsewhere. Other teams certainly could have put together a better package than the Lakers ever could have at present, taking the risk of hoping he’d stay for the long haul.

Anthony Davis did everything short of straight-up wearing a Lakers uniform when he was trying to force his way into a team-up with LeBron back in 2019. Even then, the Lakers had to give up plenty of assets to secure Davis in a trade, sending Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart, along with three first-round picks, to the New Orleans Pelicans.

A potential move for Antetokounmpo to LA was always going to be a major pipe dream. Lakers fans certainly are well within their rights to dream of how dangerous a duo of Antetokounmpo and Doncic could be, but believing that this was realistic was always delusional on their part.

Nonetheless, there are always going to be superstar talents who will be interested in joining the Lakers, especially when a star of Doncic’s caliber is already on the roster. Antetokounmpo just wasn’t their guy.

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