{"id":173118,"date":"2025-07-15T21:22:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T21:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/173118\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T21:22:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T21:22:12","slug":"new-update-surfaces-on-giannis-antetokounmpo-nikola-jokic-to-lakers-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/173118\/","title":{"rendered":"New Update Surfaces on Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic to Lakers Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Update Surfaces on\u00a0Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic\u00a0to Lakers Rumors<\/a> originally appeared on Athlon Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Lakers have long been a destination for NBA superstars \u2014 from Shaquille O\u2019Neal and Kobe Bryant to LeBron James and now Luka Doncic. Recently, the shocking midseason trade that brought Doncic to LA stunned the league, and it hasn\u2019t taken long for speculation to swirl about which big name could be next to join him as the franchise eyes another title run.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

That speculation has increasingly centered around two of the league\u2019s biggest stars: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic. Antetokounmpo, whose future in Milwaukee has come into question after the Bucks suffered a third straight first-round playoff exit, is at the heart of rumors suggesting he might be ready for a fresh start if the Bucks fall short again next season.<\/p>\n

\"Milwaukee<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Giannis Antetokounmpo (34).Troy Taormina-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Jokic has raised eyebrows too. The three-time MVP and centerpiece of the Nuggets dynasty opted to decline a contract extension<\/a> this offseason \u2014 a move that could earn him significantly more money if he waits until 2026. His decision, paired with recent comments<\/a> from Denver\u2019s ownership, has only added fuel to the chatter that LA could eventually make a play for him.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Lakers insider Jovan Buha<\/a> offered his take on which star is more likely to land in purple and gold.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween Giannis and Jokic, I think Giannis is more likely to be a Laker,\u201d Buha said.<\/p>\n

He also added that despite Milwaukee\u2019s efforts to keep Antetokounmpo happy, the clock is ticking if they fail to contend again next season.<\/p>\n

Should the Lakers pull off either move, the implications are massive. Pairing Doncic with a two-time MVP like Giannis would give LA an unstoppable blend of elite defense, paint dominance, and championship pedigree. On the flipside, adding three-time MVP Jokic would bring the league\u2019s best passing big man alongside Doncic\u2019s stellar offense.<\/p>\n

Related: Mavericks Named Favorites to Land LeBron James After Coaching News<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Lakers Make Final Decision on Andrew Wiggins, Heat Trade<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Jul 15, 2025, where it first appeared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Update Surfaces on\u00a0Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic\u00a0to Lakers Rumors originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Los Angeles Lakers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,301,123,1536,185,150,368,102,121,3871,6,18465,253,302,1302],"class_list":{"0":"post-173118","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-bucks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bucks","10":"tag-denver","11":"tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","12":"tag-kobe-bryant","13":"tag-lebron-james","14":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","15":"tag-luka-doncic","16":"tag-milwaukee","17":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","18":"tag-milwaukeebucks","19":"tag-nba","20":"tag-nba-superstars","21":"tag-nikola-jokic","22":"tag-nuggets","23":"tag-shaquille-oneal"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114859353582954019","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}