The Los Angeles Lakers continue to rebuild their roster and have been doing fine so far. However, the latest addition is not a new face but someone official with the team last season – Kostas Antetokounmpo.
At first, the re-signing of Kostas may raise some eyebrows. Why take in someone who hardly played and made a difference for the Lakers last season. Is it because of his last name? Or would it be because the purple and gold have something up their sleeve?
The Lakers re-signed the younger brother of Giannis Antetokounmpo to a two-way deal recently, NBA.com reported. For someone who hardly played last season, some could see a different motive behind it.
Kostas played just five games for the Lakers during the 2019-20 season averaging just 1.4 points in four minutes of action. He got more exposure playing for the South Bay Lakers and put up good numbers. He averaged 14.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 25.4 minutes.
For now, this could be the reason why Los Angeles brought him back. Perhaps they see some potential in the 23-year-old and are giving him another chance to shine. But if one looks at it deeper, it could be part of a grand plan to lure Giannis Antetokounmpo to the fold next season.
The two-time NBA MVP has yet to re-sign a supermax deal with the Bucks as of this writing, Marc Stein of the New York Times reported. Both parties have until Dec. 21 to do so and most will be monitoring that situation.
The last two weeks have been filled with chatter that Giannis Antetokounmpo indeed plans to sign his five-year supermax with the Bucks before the Dec. 21 deadline to do so ...
The Bucks just made a trade that suggests they must believe it — Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 17, 2020
There is a possibility that Kostas is a seed planted by the Lakers moving forward. Add other factors such as the fact that Anthon Davis has yet to sign a deal, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka may be brewing up something.
There are suggestions that Davis is purposely delaying the signing of a new deal as the Lakers plan their future. The 27-year-old could opt for a short-term contract where he could opt-out next season together with LeBron James. Under this scenario, the Lakers would have the flexibility to add a third star which could be Giannis Antetokounmpo.
This is a sensible theory although it cannot be denied that Kostas is still young and could shine like his older brother. But for that to happen, he needs to step up this 2020-21 season and show everyone that he too can hit big strides like Giannis.
