How the Lakers could pair Luka Dončić with a disgruntled 2-time MVP originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The NBA is a star-driven league. Long gone are the days of a singular superstar like Dirk Nowitzki carrying a franchise to the finals. If you don’t have two stars, good luck even thinking about a deep playoff run.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Lakers are in one of the more interesting situations in the league when it comes to stars. The team currently employs one of the biggest stars in the game today, one of the biggest stars in sports history, and one of the most fun budding stars in the league.
More: Do the Lakers legitimately have two MVP candidates?
It’s a strange middle ground they find themselves in. Luka Dončić is clearly a star now and will be for a long time barring injury. The trouble comes with their other two stars.
LeBron James is one of, if not the greatest, players of all time, but after already missing 15 games and coming close to ending his 10+ point-scoring streak on multiple occasions, doubts are starting to creep in for many about how long he has left.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMore: When was the last time LeBron James scored less than 10 points?
For 5th-year Austin Reaves, it’s an entirely different story. While yes, his stats are tracking similarly to Kobe Bryant, and he’s a budding star in this league, is he really a star that you can count on to drag a team to the finals? That’s yet to be proven, unlike Dončić.
The Lakers could, however, create quite a legitimate star pairing for the right price. Would they be willing to pay it, though?
What would it take for the Lakers to add Giannis Antetokounmpo?
Today, there was a flurry of “reporting" across Twitter/X that Milwaukee Bucks’ star Giannis Antetokounmpo has grown sick of losing in Milwaukee and expressed his frustrations through social media.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat news was mostly fake. If you scroll through his Instagram, you’ll undoubtedly still find remnants of the Bucks from when he won the title. That doesn’t mean their star isn’t beyond frustrated, though.
The Bucks have lost their last seven games, and Giannis is not happy. If he were to be moved, what would that look like for Los Angeles in order to pair Antetokounmpo with Dončić?
Lakers receive:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Bucks receive:
Austin Reaves
Rui Hachimura
Jarred Vanderbilt
Maxi Kleber
Likely a 1st RD pick
Quite the haul. It really brings up the debate of depth over high-end talent.
Even with the way Austin Reaves has been playing this season, if Giannis is on the table, you unfortunately have to make that happen, even if it would hurt Lakers fans’ souls.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThere is another way to make it happen, though. A much more unlikely way. It would involve trading LeBron James and his son, Bronny James, in exchange for Giannis.
The contracts work out beautifully, but with LeBron’s no-trade clause in his contract, it’s very unlikely he would sign off to end his career in Wisconsin. It would retain more depth, though, without a doubt, and what a team that would be.
It might not happen this season, but the Lakers certainly have their eyes set on the Greek Freak.
More NBA News:
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When was the last time LeBron James scored less than 10 points?
Austin Reaves accomplishes feat not seen since Steph Curry
J.J. Reddick offers scathing review of Lakers' performance after loss to Suns
LeBron James makes concerning three-word admission after Lakers' loss to Suns
