2 weeks Ago By Athlon Sports
The NBA loves a feeding frenzy. Whenever there is a disgruntled star, especially with a small-market team, the gossip-mongers in the league's front offices are sure to banter about it and, inevitably, that banter trickles down to the media that covers the league.Sometimes that banter is a prelude to actual transactions.
Sometimes it dies on the vine. Sometimes a trade, like the Lakers' acquisition of Luka Doncic, comes with no banter whatsoever.When it comes to Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, we are still very much in the bantering stage.
But he is 30 years old and is currently suiting up for a team that appears to have hit the end of its road, down, 2-0, in the first round against the Indiana Pacers. Milwaukee won the 2021 NBA championship, but has struggled badly since then, thanks to bad coaching decisions and poor trades. The Bucks have gone through three coaches in three years, and have been ousted in the first round in the past two postseasons.
Given that Antetokounmpo has hinted at an affinity for the Lakers in the past, this is sure to draw notice in L.A. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis AntetokounmpoMichael McLoone-Imagn ImagesAntetokounmpo is entering the beginning of a three-year contract extension he signed in 2023, worth $175 million.
The final year of that deal is a player option, meaning he is signed for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons, and can begin pressuring the Bucks to trade him if he so chooses. Of note, though, is that Antetokounmpo has said he will not ask for a trade, telling Greek reporters, "I don’t think that I would ever text (a trade request), I am not this kind of guy. They would have to kick me out.
"Lakers Rank No. 3 on Giannis Antetokounmpo ListThings change, though, and the Bucks might need to make a deal in order to restart a franchise that is struggling. A trade could be in the best interest of both parties.
Antetokounmpo also said, "The NBA is business, if I got traded I would inform my family and would do my job," he said.While it might be tough for the Lakers to build a competitive trade package for Antetokounmpo, he could have enough leverage to specify the Lakers as a destination. On Friday, the gambling website Bovada released odds on where Antetokounmpo might land next, if he leaves Milwaukee this summer.
The lack of assets means the Lakers are not atop the list--the Brooklyn Nets, loaded with draft assets, are--but the appeal of Antetokounmpo playing in Los Angeles has the Lakers at No. 3. The Brooklyn Nets are the favorites to land Giannis Antetokounmpo if he’s not with the Milwaukee Bucks next season, per @BovadaOfficialBrooklyn Nets: -200San Antonio Spurs: +325Los Angeles Lakers: +450Miami Heat: +500Toronto Raptors: +1600 pic.
twitter.com/Z9CaqY0nHl— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 25, 2025The list goes: Brooklyn Nets: minus-200San Antonio Spurs: plus-325Los Angeles Lakers: plus-450Miami Heat: plus-500Toronto Raptors: plus-1,600All is not lost for the Bucks, of course. Game 3 of their series against the Pacers is Friday in Milwaukee.
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