Before Giannis Antetokounmpo signed his current contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, there were rumours that Masai Ujiri was trying to get him to Toronto. The “Greek Freak” is one of the best NBA talents, and getting him on your roster immediately boosts a team into championship contention. Yet, he decided to stay in Milwaukee to bring a championship home to the franchise that drafted him, which he accomplished in 2021. From there, several moves from the Bucks front office went down in an attempt to build another championship team around Giannis.
When the Bucks won the Damian Lillard sweepstakes after the star requested a trade out of Portland, it seemed like Giannis was in Milwaukee to stay. Two seasons into the Giannis/Dame experiment, and not only has it not panned out the way it was expected to, but it has crashed and burned.
It’s no one’s fault, except maybe the universe’s, as the thing that has brought the Bucks’ immediate championship hopes to a screeching halt has been injury. First, it was the deep vein thrombosis (blood clot) that sidelined Lillard at the end of the regular season. A serious and life-threatening condition, players with blood clots often miss extended time to get rid of the clot, address the problem, and then recondition back into game form. Lillard was back on the Bucks court in a month.
Three games later, Lillard would suffer a season-ending Achilles injury, requiring surgery and sidelining him for these playoffs and likely most of next season. Rehabilitation for this injury is usually about a year.
With Giannis in the prime of his career, it seems like a move is imminent given all of these situations. Nothing has been explicitly said by Giannis’s team or the Bucks, and the Bucks would likely only move him if he asks. Has the star’s patience finally dwindled, especially given the prognosis of Lillard?
Now, it’s being reported that the Greek Freak has an interest in Toronto as a potential landing spot. Per Scoop B, Giannis wants to stay in the Eastern Conference, with Brooklyn and Toronto being top of mind. According to the report, Toronto is a place that other stars would want to join Giannis in — we all know it’s a great NBA market. Despite a few podcasts about the struggle of having to spend 10 minutes in customs, players who come to Toronto generally enjoy their time here.
Toronto could check all of Giannis’s “boxes,” per the report. As an international market with a publicly praised medical staff and front office, it’s a great landing spot for an international player like Giannis.
Now, do the Raptors pursue this?
With a star of Giannis’s calibre on the table, absolutely. The Raptors would likely not move off of Scottie Barnes, but pairing the two would be wildly awesome. Everyone else would have to be on the table for a trade. It’s Giannis.
Getting him, pairing him with Scottie Barnes — an immediate championship contender in a VERY weak Eastern Conference. Now might even be the best time to make the jump. Think about what is going on in the East right now: Tatum and Lillard are both out next year, Embiid’s knees are dust, and Flagg is going to the Mavericks. The Villanova Knicks are on their way to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers. A Giannis/Scottie Raptors team could beat either of those ECF teams.
Surely, Masai needs to explore it. There has been mutual interest both ways in bringing Giannis to the Raptors for years, and now could be the time to jump.