{"id":713272,"date":"2026-04-18T15:30:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/713272\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T15:30:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:30:39","slug":"giannis-antetokounmpos-latest-comments-douse-lakers-trade-rumors-in-cold-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/713272\/","title":{"rendered":"Giannis Antetokounmpo&#8217;s Latest Comments Douse Lakers Trade Rumors in Cold Water"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"440\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Giannis-Antetokounmpo-2-e1776525033352.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Giannis Antetokounmpo\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t seem like Giannis Antetokounmpo is interested in getting traded to the Lakers<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/los-angeles-lakers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> are set to embark on their first-round playoff series against the <a href=\"http:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/houston-rockets\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Houston Rockets<\/a>, but with both <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/los-angeles-lakers\/lakers-luka-doncic-development-game-rockets\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Luka Doncic<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/los-angeles-lakers\/la-lakers-news-rumors-austin-reaves\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Austin Reaves<\/a> set to miss the entire series, hopes aren\u2019t high in L.A. Many folks have turned their attention to the upcoming offseason, where the team is continuing to get linked to a trade for disgruntled <a href=\"http:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/milwaukee-bucks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> superstar <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/milwaukee-bucks\/doc-rivers-takes-jab-media-bucks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>After laboring through a miserable 2025-26 campaign, it appears as if the long-running trade saga involving Antetokounmpo and the Bucks is set to come to an end. Los Angeles is known to be interested in making a move for the Greek forward, but based on his latest comments, it doesn\u2019t sound like he has any interest in landing with the Lakers.<\/p>\n<p>Giannis Antetokounmpo Labels Los Angeles \u2018Superficial\u2019<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s felt like Antetokounmpo\u2019s name has popped up in trade rumors for years, but things finally came to a head this season. With Milwaukee struggling from the get-go, Antetokounmpo engaged in a season-long standoff with his longtime team, and after he didn\u2019t get dealt at the trade deadline, the expectation is that he will find a new home over the offseason.<\/p>\n<p>With the Lakers largely expected to move on from LeBron James and begin building around Doncic and Reaves this offseason, it has been linked to a potential move for Antetokounmpo. While he only played in 36 games this season, Antetokounmpo was his dominant self when he was on the floor (27.6 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 5.4 APG, 62.4 FG%), which would seemingly make him a great fit alongside Doncic and Reaves.<\/p>\n<p>Reports have indicated that while Los Angeles is interested in Antetokounmpo, the feeling isn\u2019t mutual. Antetokounmpo all but confirmed that train of thought recently, as he revealed that he would rather live in Miami than Los Angeles, with his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=M8cLtweBwQs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">comments about the West Coast city<\/a> quickly catching fans\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think L.A. is super superficial. I don\u2019t like L.A.,\u201d Antetokounmpo bluntly said on \u201cGogi\u2019s Garage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lakers Appear Likely to Miss Out on Giannis Antetokounmpo<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5909504\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-5909504\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776526238_385_GettyImages-2266220353_c429bc-e1776257928401.jpg\" alt=\"Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks looks on against the Miami Heat\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5909504\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GettyGiannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks looks on against the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/miami-heat\/\" title=\"Miami Heat\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"229911\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Miami Heat<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Yes, Antetokounmpo still has to be traded, but he is likely going to have some say in determining where he lands if he does end up getting dealt. A team like the Miami Heat has also shown serious interest in Antetokounmpo, so when it comes to deciding where he wants to play basketball moving forward, it doesn\u2019t seem like the Lakers are going to be a consideration, simply because of where they play basketball.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a tough pill for L.A. to swallow, but it\u2019s not as if it were guaranteed to land Antetokounmpo otherwise, as the bidding for his services may have ruled the team out of the running regardless. First, the Lakers will look to find a way to extend their season by sending the Rockets packing, but once the offseason rolls around, it appears the front office won\u2019t have to worry about Antetokounmpo, meaning it can focus its efforts on re-signing Reaves to a big-money contract.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/owencrisafulli\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Owen Crisafulli<\/a> Owen Crisafulli is an Email Newsletter Editor &amp; Breaking News Writer at Heavy Sports. His work has also appeared on ClutchPoints, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, Athlon Sports, NESN Basketball Network, and FanSided, where he shared his insights on a variety of sports topics primarily surrounding the NFL, NBA, and MLB. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/owencrisafulli\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Owen Crisafulli<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Lakers\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty It doesn&#8217;t seem like Giannis Antetokounmpo is interested in getting traded to the Lakers The Los Angeles&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":713273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,102,121,3871,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-713272","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-milwaukee","11":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","12":"tag-milwaukeebucks","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116426430069600632","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713272","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=713272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}