Luka Doncic Has One Major Condition for Lakers Trading for Giannis: Report

It’s going to be a busy summer for the Los Angeles Lakers, as they look to build a team around league-leading scorer Luka Doncic that can win a championship.

The Lakers went toe-to-toe with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western semifinals without Doncic, and L.A. was promptly swept by the reigning kings of the NBA.

With questions about whether the Lakers will retain free agents LeBron James and Austin Reaves, there’s a chance the entire starting five, except for Doncic, is different for L.A. the next time they play a regular-season game.

One gigantic domino that will affect not only the Lakers but also the rest of the NBA teams will be what happens to Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Milwaukee Bucks have already announced they’ll trade their face of the franchise if he doesn’t sign an extension this offseason, and the Lakers are expected to be heavily in the mix for the European superstar.

But if the Lakers go after Antetokounmpo, there is one condition that Doncic allegedly has for new Lakers ownership under Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter: don’t trade Reaves for him.

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Per The Athletic’s Dan Woike and Sam Amick, Doncic does not want to lose his guard partner Reaves, who he’s become close to on and off the court since being traded from the Dallas Mavericks organization. He is reportedly adamant that he wants Reaves as part of the future of the Lakers franchise alongside him, with the ultimate goal of finding a third star player to join the duo.

Without Reaves in the discussions as a sign-and-trade candidate, it would feel unlikely the Lakers could pull a trade for the multi-time MVP.

It’s going to be an offseason of change for the Lakers as more than half their roster is up for new contracts, and L.A. are determined to build a squad around their Slovenian franchise player that resembles the makeup of the Mavericks team he led to the NBA Finals only a few years ago.

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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 4:56 PM.