The Los Angeles Lakers are candidates to help facilitate a multi-team trade that gets Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat and lands L.A. the rim-protecting, rim-running big man it’s hunting for Luka Doncic — as well as perhaps another meaningful role player in the process.
Anthony F. Irwin of Offside reported on Saturday, June 20 that the Lakers have interest in what could potentially be a four-team trade involving the Heat, Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons that ultimately brings center Isaiah Stewart to Southern California.
“With Detroit, the Lakers apparently have apparently been talking to them about Isaiah Stewart and what his availability and what his price would be,” Irwin said in an X video. “Especially if Detroit was involved in this trade and landed Tyler Herro, they would become a very expensive team and would not have the funds to pay Jalen Duren and continue to employ Isaiah Stewart.”
Lakers Could Potentially Land Player Like Jaime Jaquez Alongside Isaiah Stewart
GettyJaime Jaquez Jr. of the Miami Heat
Irwin also mentioned the possibility of Los Angeles picking up a sixth-man type who fits the bill of a scoring forward with defensive versatility to play around a backcourt pairing of Doncic and Austin Reaves, assuming the Lakers sign Reaves to a new contract extension in free agency this summer.
“The Lakers, I’m told, have been in touch with Milwaukee about potentially facilitating this deal using some of the cap space they have — whether that’s to add another pick by just taking on a contract or using some of their draft capital to land some of the players that would be going from Miami to Milwaukee in some kind of a rerouting situation,” Irwin continued. “I personally would love to see Jaime Jaquez [Jr.] as a Laker next season.”
Jaquez, 25 years old, finished second in the NBA’s 6th Man of the Year voting in 2025-26 after averaging 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists last season.
Isaiah Stewart Fits With Lakers on Court, Financially
GettyIsaiah Stewart of the Detroit Pistons.
Stewart, meanwhile, put up 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.6 blocks in 22.7 minutes per night last season. He finished seventh place in the league’s 6th Man of the Year voting.
At six-feet, eight-inches tall, Stewart doesn’t have the prototypical height of an ideal center pairing for Doncic. However, he is a bruiser with a reputation as one of the toughest players in the NBA.
Stewart, also 25 years old, has two years remaining on his four-year, $60 million contract and carries a salary cap hit of $15 million in each of the next two seasons. The big man’s price tag over the remainder of that deal is another way he can fit well into the Lakers’ medium-term plans.
In Irwin’s hypothetical version of things, the Bucks and Heat must come to a firm agreement on the principals in an Antetokounmpo trade, which is far from a done deal. However, ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported late last week that he expects something firm to come together by NBA draft night on Tuesday, June 23 if the two teams ultimately make such a trade.
“It does appear as if there is some real momentum gathering behind Giannis going to the Miami Heat, and the Lakers have been in touch with some key parties of that potential multi-team deal,” Irwin said.
Trade Pitch Lands Lakers $60 Million Center in Deal Sending Antetokounmpo to Heat