The Los Angeles Lakers turned the NBA upside down after they traded for Luka Doncic in February.
The nature of that deal — in which an All-NBA superstar guard changed teams via trade at the start of his prime — has led to speculation that all the Lakers need to do to acquire a franchise-altering player is just pick up the phone.
However, it doesn’t sound like the Lakers will have it that easy again if they opt to pursue Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo, one of the greatest players of his generation, is considering his future in Milwaukee amid the Bucks’ slow start to the season.
Giannis wants to win another NBA championship following the Bucks’ 2021 success, and he is actively pondering whether he will have to finish his career elsewhere to achieve that ambition. But according to veteran NBA insider Marc Stein, the Bucks are not entertaining any pitches for Giannis as trade season draws near.
“The Bucks continue to tell teams he’s not available, we don’t want your trade pitches,” Stein said Sunday on the All NBA podcast. “It’s this weird deal where the Bucks keep shouting into the wind, ‘listen to us, we don’t want to talk trades with you about Giannis Antetokounmpo,’ and the rest of the league just ignores it.”
With the NBA trade deadline just two months away, the Lakers and others have a lot of work ahead of them to convince the Bucks — 10th in the Eastern Conference with a 10-15 record — to soften their stance over dealing the Greek Freak.
Not only that, but the Lakers (17-6) will have to convince Giannis that he is set up for championship success in Los Angeles.
