Lakers set to battle with Knicks, Heat for Bucks' $175 million star in offseason, per report

The Los Angeles Lakers, like every other franchise not named the Milwaukee Bucks, will move forward without Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo on their roster. 

The 10-time All-Star will temporarily continue his NBA career with Milwaukee after an intriguing, yet uneventful, trade season. However, according to the LA Times’ Broderick Turner, the Lakers are set to compete with the New York Knicks and Miami Heat for the two-time MVP in the summer.

“The Lakers will make a hard push to acquire the All-Star forward during the summer, people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Times, after the Milwaukee Bucks declined to deal the two-time most valuable player by the noon deadline (3 p.m. ET),” Turner wrote Thursday.

“People close to Antetokounmpo said the New York Knicks and Miami Heat are his preferred destinations, but he would not rule out the Lakers.”

Instead of striking a deal with the Bucks for Antetokounmpo before the conclusion of the trade season, the Lakers opted to acquire Luke Kennard from the Atlanta Hawks. 

Kennard leads the NBA in three-point shooting efficiency, as he’s nailing triples at a 49.7% clip this season. There’s no question that Kennard will make the Lakers a stronger perimeter shooting team going forward, but he isn’t the answer to all of Los Angeles’ problems.

Securing Antetokounmpo in the summer would give the Lakers a dynamic two-way forward who could help shore up the franchise’s defense/rim-protection and give Luka Doncic a more accomplished partner in crime on the offensive end. 

Los Angeles should be prepared to do whatever it takes to land Antetokounmpo this upcoming offseason.

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