![\"Giannis\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Giannis-2-e1770326892101.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Giannis Antetokounmpo could land with the Lakers this offseason.<\/p>\n
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is staying put after the NBA trade deadline<\/a>, and the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> are winners in that regard.<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo will have to revisit playing elsewhere when the offseason arrives. For the Lakers, that could work favorably, as SB Nation\u2019s Jacob Rude<\/a> points out.<\/p>\n \u201cAhead of the trade deadline, the Lakers could not offer anything remotely competitive with only one first round pick available to deal,\u201d Rude wrote. \u201cOnce the draft rolls around in June, though, the Lakers will be able to trade three first round picks and a whole lot of cap space to play with.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne major appeal in the Lakers\u2019 package will be the cap relief they can offer Milwaukee, which is in financial hell after waiving and stretching Damian Lillard,\u201d Rude continued. \u201cPair that with a trio of first round picks and LA will be in the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n Rudge noted that the Lakers will want to put guard Austin Reaves in the mix for a trade to have the most competitive package. Other teams will, of course, be pursuing Antetokounmpo again in the offseason as many were ahead of the Thursday trade deadline.<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo has a three-year, $175.36 million<\/a> deal with the Bucks that goes through the 2026-2027 season with a player option the following year. The two-time MVP has been the subject of trade rumors for years since the Bucks haven\u2019t been able to match the 2020-2021 championship run since winning it all that year.<\/p>\n Bucks Could \u2018Do Right By Giannis\u2019<\/p>\n The Lakers are looking to make a big move after the season, according to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times<\/a>, and that could be Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n While Antetokounmpo sent a strong message to his suitors after the trade deadline, the Lakers might have what it takes to lure Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo wrote<\/a> \u201clegends don\u2019t chase\u201d and that \u201cthey attract\u201d on X.<\/p>\n \u201cDepending on Milwaukee\u2019s motivations, they could also look to do right by Giannis and send him somewhere he wants to be, which could be Los Angeles,\u201d Rude wrote. \u201cAs we\u2019ve seen previous players do \u2014 namely Anthony Davis \u2014 if Giannis says he will only re-sign in Los Angeles, then other teams may balk at making serious offers, moving the Lakers up the list.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat, however, requires Giannis to be the bad guy and start making demands, something he has very much shied away from doing to this point. But, as a result, the Bucks have shied away from dealing him. If the two sides get serious, then perhaps a move can be made,\u201d Rude added.<\/p>\n Lakers Add Luke Kennard For Now<\/p>\n The Lakers acquired Luke Kennard from the Atlanta Hawks<\/a> at the trade deadline<\/a> in exchange for Gabe Vincent and a second-round draft pick.<\/p>\n Kennard will help with three-point shooting since he shoots at a league-best .497 clip, and he\u2019s 25th in three-pointers made this season at 582. He is averaging 7.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game this season.<\/p>\n Los Angeles gives up Vincent, who has dealt with injuries this season, amid just 4.8 points per game.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMatthew Davis<\/a> covers the NFL, WNBA and college sports for Heavy.com. As a contributing writer to the StarTribune, he has also covered Minnesota prep sports since 2016. More about Matthew Davis<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Lakers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Giannis Antetokounmpo could land with the Lakers this offseason. Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is staying put…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6],"class_list":["post-584894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-lakers","tag-basketball","tag-la","tag-la-lakers","tag-lakers","tag-lalakers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangeleslakers","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116020202380548110","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584894","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=584894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}