I get it, you’re still thinking about the Lakers getting swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the playoffs.
It was a valiant fight to the end, Monday’s season-ending 115-110 loss. A thriller for naught.
But now we’ve finally reached the big, beautiful offseason the Lakers have been teasing for months. This pivotal moment that’s had them hoarding assets and fencing off their financial flexibility. All but paralyzed by possibility.
Even after jogging in place all this time, they’ve finally caught up with the can they kicked down the road: All indications are that the Milwaukee Bucks’ superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is about to hit the trade market.
And the Lakers — loaded with trade ammunition and cap space and forever wishing on star players — are going to be expected to make a play.
But they should run a different play.
For months, they’ve been signaling as if with a searchlight how much they covet the 6-foot-11 Greek forward. So, of course, they’re going to take a run at the two-time NBA MVP, 10-time All-Star, 2021 NBA champion who will earn about $58 million next season, when the 31-year-old will expect a massive, multi-year extension.
They should run the other direction.
The Lakers have stockpiled cap space and picks — as of draft night, they’ll have 2026, 2031 and 2033 first-rounders to offer — like they’re doomsayers outfitting a bunker. If they fill all that available cap space with Antetokounmpo’s salary, they won’t be using it on LeBron James or Rui Hachimura. The Lakers likely also will have to empty their cupboard of those first-round picks.
And, yes, it would be a disaster to dedicate all of that to an aging Antetokounmpo instead of doing the work to build a suitable army of role players to take on OKC’s corps — and to orbit Doncic, the guy who the Lakers already brought in to save the days ahead.
But, wait, you say, this is the Lakers. Stars shine here.
Sure, but what does L.A. love most? Winners.
You know what constitutes a winning formula in today’s NBA?
Depth. Athleticism. Versatility. Optionality. Think, the 2019-2020 Lakers.
You know what doesn’t win?
Imbalanced rosters. Top-heavy teams. All your dang eggs in one basket. The misfit Russell Westbrook Lakers. These 2026 three-or-D Lakers. And certainly not a flimsy, clunky Luka Doncic-and-Antetokounmpo Lakers.
Sure, those guys are great players. They could figure it out.
But would it be an optimum use of their respective talents?
In Greek: όχι. In Slovenian: Ne.
In Los Angelese: Oh, heck no.
Everyone knows to get the best out of a Luka-led team, you surround him with shooters — and Antetokounmpo is 28.5% from deep for his career. But Hachimura — proven playoff riser and certified laser — is a 51.6% three-point shooter in the postseason; the better more-gifted player isn’t necessarily the better fit.
Because everyone also knows Antetokounmpo is at his best when he’s barreling toward the rim with the ball in his hands — during which time Doncic is going to be doing what? Standing in the corner, arguing with the refs?
The last time they waited to catch the big fish, he didn’t bite. Fortuitously. They missed out on injury-prone Kawhi Leonard, who chose the Clippers before the 2019-20 season and left the Lakers to scramble to assemble … a championship roster.
Around James and Anthony Davis — who, fun fact, made just $27 million that season before agreeing to a historic and more cumbersome three-year extension — the Lakers had shooters who could defend, like Danny Green. And defenders who could shoot, like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso. Length all over the court. Athleticism in the post: JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard who could play with or for AD.
It’s the blueprint OKC has been using, the same one the Lakers discarded to go big-name hunting, bringing aboard Westbrook by trading away Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and a No. 22 pick.
Talk about a brick.
Similar story in Milwaukee, where Antetokounmpo’s Bucks went all in for Damian Lillard and have nothing but failure to show for it.
So if — or, well, when — the Lakers go in mad pursuit of Giannis, I will have questions.
I’ll question why the Bucks would have the appetite to send another singular, single-name talent to L.A. after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came and won five championships here.
I’ll question whether Giannis wants to be in L.A., our “superficial” city, as he called it.
I’ll question why the Lakers would invest so heavily on an aging, oft-injured star whose game is predicated on athleticism and not the out-of-this-world basketball IQ like 41-year-old LeBron.
And, yes, I’ll question the fit and the function and whether the Lakers have fully missed what’s been happening around them — and to them.
The post Just say no. Lakers should learn their lesson, avoid Giannis Antetokounmpo appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
