Pretty soon, the Los Angeles Lakers will be putting in work to try to keep their own free agents — men such as Austin Reaves and presumably Luke Kennard, Rui Hachimura and Lebron James. They will also be looking to add to a roster that won 53 regular-season games but got swept in the second round of the playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder without the injured Luka Doncic.
For months, there has been speculation and reports that the Lakers will aggressively go after Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer. According to a report in The Athletic by Dan Woike and Sam Amick, the team will indeed explore such trade scenarios this offseason.
“The Lakers are expected to explore Antetokounmpo trade scenarios this summer,” Woike and Amick wrote.
This comes despite the fact that there is no definitive report or sign that Antetokounmpo wants to come to the Lakers, and despite the fact that the same report in The Athletic indicated that Luka Doncic doesn’t want Lakers star Austin Reaves to be traded for Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo, 31, averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 28.9 minutes a game this season despite being hampered by injury issues. The Bucks, who are five years removed from winning the NBA championship, went 32-50 during the regular season and appear to lack the trade assets to improve their roster enough to contend for the world title again within a year or two.
The Lakers likely won’t be able to put together a trade offer for Antetokounmpo that will be as attractive as the ones teams such as the New York Knicks, Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves could offer. Even if Los Angeles does land the two-time MVP, there will then be the question of whether it will have enough salary cap flexibility to immediately assemble a championship-caliber cast around him and Doncic.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Report: Lakers expected to explore Giannis Antetokounmpo trade options
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
