Lakers Have to Sacrifice Austin Reaves for Giannis Antetokounmpo

On Monday, unless the Los Angeles Lakers can pull a rabbit out of their hat or LeBron James winds back the clock a decade, their season will most likely end in a sweep at the hands of the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

And that’s OK.

While the Lakers only deal in championships and don’t celebrate moral victories, the fact that L.A. made it past the first round without the league’s leading scorer in Luka Doncic was a mini miracle in itself.

But once they ultimately fall to the Thunder, be it in Game 4 or later on in the series, L.A. will need to turn its attentions suddenly to the offseason and the next campaign.

With several of the team’s prominent players free agents, the Lakers will need to decide who to keep, who to move on from, and how to build a title-contending team around their Slovenian kingpin.

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Austin Reaves is close friends with Doncic and plays well alongside him, but to win a championship, he might need to go elsewhere this offseason.

The Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly open to trading Giannis Antetokounmpo, and a possible Reaves sign-and-trade with the Lakers could be one of the best deals they can receive from a team the “Greek Freak” might actually consider playing for long-term.

Although Reaves couldn’t be the only thing the Lakers would send over for the multi-time MVP, his new contract would help match at least most of the salary needed to go the other way for the maxed Antetokounmpo.

Somehow, even after the Doncic trade, the Lakers own most of their first-round picks moving forward, which could intrigue the Bucks, who would be looking at least a soft rebuild at best once Antetokounmpo leaves.

The Lakers held onto their assets this past trade deadline in hopes of swinging for a big transaction in the next two offseasons to land the perfect duo partner for Doncic.

If they need to sacrifice their homegrown star to do it, then that’s something the Lakers will do time and time again.

Because at the end of the day, the only thing that matters in Los Angeles is rings, and Antetokounmpo would be a gigantic step forward towards that goal.

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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 3:58 PM.