{"id":555063,"date":"2026-01-23T08:10:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/555063\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T08:10:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:10:16","slug":"can-lakers-knicks-bucks-blockbuster-trade-solve-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/555063\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Lakers-Knicks-Bucks Blockbuster Trade Solve Everything?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In just one week, NBA fans were able to: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/47594947\/inside-jeanie-jerry-buss-family-infighting-drove-10b-sale-los-angeles-lakers-mark-walter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">read an expos\u00e9<\/a> about Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss with claims she\u2019s grown tired of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">LeBron James<\/a>; see New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown hugging Golden State Warriors forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greendr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Draymond Green<\/a> after <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ohnohedidnt24\/status\/2013712814922240366?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">he committed a flagrant foul<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/townska01.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a>; and hear Milwaukee Bucks star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> continue to make <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ohnohedidnt24\/status\/2014230772459151430?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">critical and cryptic comments<\/a> that fuel speculation that he wants out of Cream City.<\/p>\n<p>Who would have thought that there would be so many stars on the outs with their current teams?<\/p>\n<p>Can Lakers-Knicks-Bucks Blockbuster Trade Solve Everything?<\/p>\n<p>In a solution-oriented world, many have been trying to come up with trades that would right the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the Lakers should trade James to the Golden State Warriors, a transaction <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/18\/nba-rich-paul-motive-nixing-lebron-james-warriors-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">that was nearly in-play<\/a> a couple of years ago. Maybe it\u2019s time for the Knicks to use Towns to make a move for Antetokounmpo, a scenario <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/10\/07\/bucks-entering-make-or-break-season-giannis-antetokounmpo-knicks-looming\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">that could have played out<\/a> last summer. Or, the Bucks could put Antetokounmpo on the trade block, sending him to the highest bidder.<\/p>\n<p>What if there was a trade \u2013just a single transaction \u2013that could satisfy each of these team\u2019s needs?<\/p>\n<p>Lakers-Knicks-Bucks Trade Parameters<\/p>\n<p>Bucks receive: Karl-Anthony Towns, Pac\u00f4me Dadiet<\/p>\n<p>Lakers receive: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetokounmpo<\/p>\n<p>Knicks receive: LeBron James, Bronny James<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/fanspo-nba-trade-machine-snap_h_1-22-2026_7-40-15AM.jpeg\" alt=\"Snapshot of three-team trade proposal headlined by LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Karl-Anthony Towns\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1089\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-173893\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>The Bucks will likely want draft compensation for trading Antetokounmpo, even if they do receive an annual All-Star candidate like Towns.<\/p>\n<p>If so, the Lakers should send their 2031 first-round pick \u2013or the first-round picks they\u2019re considering flipping it for \u2013to Milwaukee. As a token of appreciation for helping them get off of Town\u2019s contract, replacing him with a legend on an expiring contract who\u2019s playing at an All-Star level as of late, the Knicks should send their 2026 first-round pick to Milwaukee as well. Yes, New York\u2019s draft cupboard is desolate. Nonetheless, their 2026 first-round pick shouldn\u2019t hold much value on Draft Day if they\u2019re as good as they should be.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the NBA isn\u2019t NBA2K and these aren\u2019t the ones that typically take place. Furthermore, though each of those teams is in an awkward place with their stars, the situations may not have deteriorated past the point of no return. Therefore, this isn\u2019t a deal that has a high probability of happening, as riveting as it would be.<\/p>\n<p>However, despite there being myriad reasons this trade wouldn\u2019t go down, there\u2019s enough smoke to entertain the possibility. With that in mind, if the Lakers, Knicks and Bucks did agree to a blockbuster headlined by James, Towns, and Antetokounmpo, what would it all look like?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In just one week, NBA fans were able to: read an expos\u00e9 about Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,123,563,185,102,121,3871,6,7170,2828],"class_list":{"0":"post-555063","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-giannis-antetokounmpo","11":"tag-karl-anthony-towns","12":"tag-lebron-james","13":"tag-milwaukee","14":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","15":"tag-milwaukeebucks","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-nba-trade","18":"tag-nba-trade-deadline"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115943403437934594","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555063","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=555063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}