The NBA’s trade deadline came and went on Thursday with Giannis Antetokounmpo staying put on the Milwaukee Bucks‘ roster. That means that once this summer starts, he will be highly sought after once again, and perhaps this time, the attempts to trade for him will be very serious.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat and New York Knicks are thought to be the three teams that have the best chances of landing the two-time MVP. Lurking in the shadows, despite a lack of players who will be attractive trade assets, are the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers will have plenty of salary cap space, as well as three tradable first-round draft picks (one of which is this year’s first-rounder) this summer. But some fans may fear that the organization will be so fixated on Antetokounmpo that should it strike out on him, it will miss out on other trade targets, as well as free agents who could help it.
According to Dan Woike of The Athletic, Los Angeles may be a little more flexible as far as how it goes about upgrading its roster.
“Team sources have maintained that the Lakers won’t pursue a single pathway. That’s the luxury of their position; they can and should pursue Antetokounmpo. They can and should explore high-level role players whom they can trade draft picks for and absorb into space. They can and should look into aggressive ways to pry loose one of the top restricted free agents.”
This year’s free agent class won’t be impressive, but it will include Peyton Watson and Tari Eason, who are two-way forwards capable of bringing L.A. closer to championship contention. It could always make another attempt at trading for Trey Murphy III, another two-way forward whom it reportedly had interest in prior to the trade deadline. Or there could be another difference-maker who isn’t on people’s radars right now.
The Lakers could have over $50 million of salary cap space after the conclusion of this season. That would at least give them the ability to truly reshape their roster around and for Luka Doncic, even if fans lack confidence that general manager Rob Pelinka will be successful in doing so.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Sources: Lakers won’t pursue ‘single pathway’ this summer