NBA Trade Rumor: Giannis Antetokounmpo Lands With Lakers in Blockbuster Trade Proposal

Teams all around the NBA are circling the wagons, preparing their best offers to try and land superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks. The two sides are said to be meeting to discuss his future (though that is currently on hold as he recovers from a calf strain).

But when the time comes to take offers, insider Evan Sidery reports that NBA executives feel that no team has a better asset to offer in return than the LA Lakers.

League executives believe the Lakers have the best asset for a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade in Austin Reaves.

Reaves alongside LA’s expiring contracts works salary-wise with the Bucks.

The question is, would the Lakers even consider making Reaves available with his current play? pic.twitter.com/lUnNko8NXM
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) December 5, 2025

This is a tough thing for Lakers fans to hear right at this moment in time, as Austin Reaves is blossoming into a superstar before our very eyes. He poured in 44 points against the Toronto Raptors Thursday night, and was virtually unstoppable. In fact, in four Lakers games this season in which Luka Doncic has not played, Reaves has averaged 42 points in those contests.

Nevertheless, we have a proposed blockbuster that would land a two-time MVP, one-time Finals MVP and one-time Defensive Player of the Year in Hollywood. It comes to us from Eric Pincus at Bleacher Report:

LA Lakers receive:

Giannis Antetokounmpo
Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Alex Antetokounmpo
Amir Coffey or Cole Anthony

Milwaukee Bucks receive:

Austin Reaves
Rui Hachimura
Maxi Kleber
Dalton Knecht
Jarred Vanderbilt
Chris Mañon

That's a massive haul, but the Bucks would expect nothing less if they are indeed to trade the Greek Freak.

For the Lakers, the combination of Giannis, Luka and LeBron could be the thing that takes them to the promised land. In addition to the close to 30 ppg he'd bring, there's the length and defense that the team has been missing since Anthony Davis left in the Doncic trade.

Pincus admits that in sacrificing Reaves and Hachimura, the Lakers would be "forfeiting shooting, playmaking, shot creation, and depth", but it would have a much better balance between offense and defense.

However, even if they can't fill out the roster enough to beat the seemingly unbeatable OKC Thunder and get out of the West this season, "getting to the pairing of Antetokounmpo and Dončić with James' contract coming off the books this summer puts the franchise in a strong position to build a true contender".

For the Bucks, they get a new budding star—dare we say, superstar?—in Reaves, who's averaging 28.9 points per game this season, with 6.8 assists and 5.7 rebounds to go with 1.2 steals. However, they would have to be able to re-sign him, as he can—and will—opt out of his $15 million player option and hit free agency after the season looking (that is a serious risk for Milwaukee that Pincus doesn't really address in his proposal). It would be a max contract or bust for Reaves to even consider staying in Milwaukee, one would think.

This is shaping up to be a wild NBA trade season, and we'll all here for it.