With the dog days of the NBA offseason in full swing, now is the time when folks tend to step outside of the box a bit to produce compelling content. In the spirit of this time of the year, Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus concocted a massive five-team trade that would have major effects on the storied Los Angeles Lakers franchise in the present and future.

Notably, in the hypothetical deal, the Lakers are would trade forward LeBron James to the Dallas Mavericks, youngster Dalton Knecht to the Brooklyn Nets and loads of draft picks to the Milwaukee Bucks.

However, the Lakers would also get big man Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Bucks in the deal, and Antetokounmpo would give Los Angeles a co-star next to guard Luka Doncic for years to come.

Mavericks get:

LeBron James (from Lakers)
Bronny James (from Lakers)
Andre Jackson Jr. (from Bucks)
Tyler Smith (from Bucks)
Drew Timme (from Nets)

Lakers get:

Giannis Antetokounmpo (from Bucks)
Olivier-Maxence Prosper (from Mavericks)
Tyrese Martin (from Nets)
$4 million trade exception (Dalton Knecht)
$2 million trade exception (Bronny James)

Bucks get:

RJ Barrett (from Raptors)
PJ Washington (from Mavericks)
Caleb Martin (from Mavericks)
Naji Marshall (from Mavericks)
$2 million trade exception (Tyler Smith)
2026 first-round swap rights (from Lakers)
2026 Lakers second-rounder (via Raptors)
2028 first-round swap rights (from Lakers)
2030 first-round swap rights (from Lakers)
2031 first-rounder (from Lakers)
2032 first-round swap rights (from Lakers)

[Toronto] Raptors get:

Daniel Gafford (from Mavericks)
$13.3 million trade exception (RJ Barrett)

Nets get:

Dalton Knecht (from Lakers)
Jaden Hardy (from Mavericks)
Dwight Powell (from Mavericks)

For as great as the elder James still is (even on the other side of 40), Antetokounmpo stands out as someone who fits Los Angeles’ winning timeline far better. Antetokounmpo is a whole lot younger than the elder James at just 30 years old, and he’s under contract for the foreseeable future as well. The Greek native has a player option on his deal in the 2027-28 campaign after he gets paid more than $58 million in the 2026-27 season.

Furthermore, Antetokounmpo is the better player in the here and now. He’s arguably a top-three player in the NBA, and he averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game with Milwaukee in the 2024-25 campaign.

It’s hard to imagine there would be a more talented duo in the league if the Lakers somehow managed to trade for Antetokounmpo and got him to join forces with the Slovenian in Los Angeles. Both players can rack up triple-doubles easily and have unique knacks for contributing up and down the stat sheet and not just in one or two areas.

While a duo of Antetokounmpo and Doncic should have Lakers fans foaming at the mouth just thinking about it, they also shouldn’t count on Antetokounmpo landing with the storied franchise anytime soon. Pincus’ proposed trade is just a hypothetical one, and it would be difficult to orchestrate such a move with all of the teams and moving parts involved.