The Los Angeles Lakers successfully made a waiver claim for Kostas Antetokounmpo, as general manager Rob Pelinka announced Monday that the NBA’s busiest team of the offseason had signed Giannis’ 21-year-old brother.
The 6’11” power forward and younger brother of Giannis was the 60th pick of the 2018 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia Sixers but was then traded to the Dallas Mavericks.
Kostas played in just two games for the Mavericks this season and didn’t score a single basket, but did average 10.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 1.0 steals for their G-League affiliate the Texas Legends.
Giannis’ 26-year-old older brother Thianis already signed a two-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this offseason, but the acquisition of Kostas in Los Angeles is making Lakers fans believe it’s a way for the team to better position itself to sign the NBA’s MVP in the summer of 2021 when Giannis hits free agency again.
The team added former Bucks coach Jason Kidd to their staff as the league’s highest paid assistant, who reportedly developed a close relationship with Giannis when Kidd was the Bucks coach for the 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 seasons.
Twitter was already blowing up on Monday with Lakers fans going crazy over the aspects of Giannis signing with the team in the summer of 2021.