Former NBA player: Giannis Antetokounmpo may not fit with Luka Doncic
· Yahoo Sports
Los Angeles Lakers fans are undoubtedly dreaming of a trade that would land the team Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer. The Milwaukee Bucks superstar is rumored to want out, and the Bucks, who are 23-30 and haven't been past the first round of the playoffs since 2022, are going nowhere with him.
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It is currently unknown how much Antetokounmpo would welcome a trade to the Lakers. He can opt out of his current contract and become a free agent in 2027, so any team that trades for him would need to be a team he actually wants to stay with.
Los Angeles is expected to have roughly $50 million in salary cap space this summer, and it can offer its 2031 and 2033 first-round draft picks, as well as the rights to its 2026 first-rounder, in any potential trade this offseason. That could give it at least a puncher's chance of landing the two-time MVP.
But L.A. is Luka Doncic's team now, and anyone who is added to its roster will have to fit with him offensively. Former NBA player Danny Green, who won a championship with the Lakers in 2020, questioned whether Doncic and Antetokounmpo will be able to mesh well together during an appearance on ESPN's "NBA Today."
"This fit with Giannis and Luka, I don’t know if it works," Green said. "I was skeptical of even Bron and Luka. … Giannis needs the ball, he's more of a transition guy. Luka's more of a half-court slow-it-down, but he also needs the ball. When I first heard it, I was excited, I was like, 'Hell yeah, you should do it. Put everything all into Giannis.' But I'm like, 'Will it actually work?'"
Complicating a potential Antetokounmpo-Doncic partnership is the fact that Antetokounmpo has never really developed his outside shooting. While he's shooting 39.5% from 3-point range this season, which is by far a career high for him, he's attempting just 1.3 3-pointers a game. One could also argue that he isn't a true low-post threat either.
Antetokounmpo, 31, is currently averaging 28 points on 64.5% field-goal shooting, 10 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks in 29.2 minutes a game for Milwaukee.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Former NBA player: Giannis Antetokounmpo may not fit with Luka Doncic