Lakers’ Giannis Antetokounmpo dream takes rough hit after NBA Draft Lottery results

The Los Angeles Lakers, who made the NBA Playoffs and did not have their first-round pick this season, did not have high stakes in last night’s NBA Draft Lottery. However, that does not mean they will not feel the ripple effects of the outcome.

With the ludicrousness of the Dallas Mavericks jumping from the 11th-best odds, of 1.8 percent, to the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, a lot of other lottery storylines have fallen under the radar. However, there is another notable jump worth paying attention to.

The San Antonio Spurs began the night with the eighth-best odds to land the top pick in the NBA Draft at 6.0 percent. They obviously fell short of that. Despite that, the Spurs were more than adequately rewarded for their participation.

San Antonio capitalized on their 26.3 percent chance of jumping into the top four, moving up from their projected eighth pick to the second overall selection. In the process of doing so, the Spurs have emerged as a massive contender in the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes.

Asset-rich Spurs present major challenge to Lakers
Organizations and fans everywhere took major notice of Shams Charania’s report from Monday morning, ahead of the NBA Draft Lottery.

The ESPN insider wrote , “The two-time NBA MVP has not made any firm decisions on his Bucks future … but for the first time in his career, Antetokounmpo is open-minded about exploring whether his best long-term fit is remaining in Milwaukee or playing elsewhere, league sources told ESPN.”

The Lakers would like to fancy themselves as a contender in the pursuit of Antetokounmpo. However, their limited trade assets would need the Milwaukee Bucks superstar to be narrow-minded on specifically joining only a small list of teams that would include them.

If that is not the case, the Spurs have easily positioned themselves as an attractive trade partner for the Bucks with their recent lottery luck.

San Antonio possesses 24 picks between now and 2031. That includes a handful of desirable first-round picks. The second overall pick in this year’s draft adds as a major selling point to any potential trade talks between them and Milwaukee.

Dylan Harper has been well-regarded as the projected second overall pick in the 2025 draft class. Handing the Bucks an opportunity to rebuild around the talented prospect only fuels what would have already been a strong trade package from the Spurs.

Any fans that have been dreaming of seeing Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic in the same jersey have been forced to cling onto the hope of Giannis demanding the Lakers as his next team. Otherwise, Rob Pelinka and company will be priced out of the trade sweepstakes very quickly