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Last summer, the Los Angeles Lakers made a conscious decision to limit the contracts they gave out to just two years so that they’d have maximum cap space in 2021, when the reigning MVP of the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is set to his unrestricted free agency.
Antetokounmpo has already said he would “never” leave the Milwaukee Bucks to play for the Lakers, and with how well the Bucks have played over the last two years, there’s really no reason for him to leave the team that drafted him with the 15th overall pick in 2013. However, during an interview with Mackenzie Salmon of USA Today Sports on Sunday, Antetokounmpo gave Lakers fans a glimmer of hope, which is honestly all they need to get their recruiting efforts started:
You got one brother with you in Milwaukee, another in L.A. — have you ever thought about what it would be like having everyone together?
I think that would be amazing. Obviously we’d spend more time together, and I’m 100% sure my mom would love that, but if we could team up in a team — Milwaukee, L.A., whatever — that would be awesome.
As if that wasn’t enough, a picture of Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka behind the Antetokounmpo brothers — Giannis, Thanasis, Kostas and Alex — went viral for obvious reasons.
SOON pic.twitter.com/OxLLUjdJ1I
— Michael Taylor (@LFRMBT) February 16, 2020
The devil works hard but Rob Pelinka works harder. https://t.co/sH8tLGJv9P
— Christian Rivas (@RadRivas) February 16, 2020
— Grant Goldberg (@GrantGoldberg) February 18, 2020
It’s probably too soon to be talking about Antetokounmpo’s free agency, especially because there’s a chance that he signs a long-term extension with the Bucks before 2021, but Lakers fans wouldn’t be Lakers fans if they weren’t constantly trying to lure the biggest names in the NBA to Los Angeles. It’s actually kind of surprising the “Ja Morant to L.A.” train hasn’t started yet, but fear not — that train will leave the station in due time.
Until then, Lakers fans will give the 25-year-old (!!!) superstar — and his siblings — their undivided attention.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @RadRivas.