It’s now been three consecutive first-round exits for the 2020-21 NBA champions, the Milwaukee Bucks. With their struggles comes a big issue: the rumours of Giannis leaving town. Should a name like Antetokounmpo become available, it would set the whole league on notice, as it’s not every day you have the chance to acquire a two-time Most Valuable Player.
So, should Toronto pursue Giannis if he became available? Obviously, Toronto is expected to take a big leap next year with Brandon Ingram at the helm. Now, imagine you add Giannis to the mix. That would automatically give Toronto expectations of at least finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference behind the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks (unless something unexpected happens). And perhaps much, much better.
Giannis is a one-time NBA champion and Finals MVP (2021). He’s won MVP two times (2019, 2020). He’s also won the most recent edition of the NBA Cup, alongside being the MVP for that competition too. Antetokounmpo has made it to nine consecutive All-Star games that started all the way back in 2017. He’s a six-time All-NBA First Team member, along with four All-Defensive First Team honours, and a Defensive Player of the Year award in 2020. It’s going to take a lot to get him, but he will be worth it.
Are the Raptors at the position to make a home-run swing, as they did in 2018 in acquiring Kawi Leonard?
What would the trade look like? There are a few options, but most of them involve a duo of either Jakob Poeltl, RJ Barrett or Immanuel Quickley.
The first trade involves the New York Knicks duo that came into town for OG Anunoby during the 23-24 season, along with Jamison Battle to entice the trade a bit, as he technically didn’t have to be involved for the salaries to match. Toronto would obviously have to add a minimum of two first-round picks for Milwaukee to even consider the trade, but after the Luka Doncic deal, who knows what general managers are looking for these days? (More likely four first-round picks, or more, though.)
Milwaukee would get a trio of youngsters to kick-start their rebuild, as that should be the direction they’re heading towards, should they trade their franchise player. For Toronto, you acquire a two-time MVP and get rid of two forwards, which is the position of Antetokounmpo, so you would clear up a bit of a logjam there. AJ Green is also an interesting name in this, as he can knock down 3-point shots just like the departing Jamison Battle. Andre Jackson Jr. is only 23, and has shown the ability to defend well with a 1 defensive win share in the 24-25 NBA season. Chris Livingston is a relatively unknown name, as he has only averaged 4.7 minutes across 42 games so far in two seasons. Outside of Giannis, the trio of Bucks were thrown into match salaries, but perhaps the youngsters could still turn into something in the NBA.
Another trade, including Immanuel Quickley and Jamison Battle, but this time the third Raptor would be Jakob Poeltl. That would leave Toronto without a starting-calibre centre, but there could be two fixes to that. The first option would be to have Giannis serve as the centre. Standing at 6’11”, he is a bit undersized for the position, but he does all of his work from inside the three-point line. The second option would be to acquire a big man via free agency or trade. Should Toronto land Giannis, I don’t think it would be that big of a problem to attract a starting-calibre centre to play for the Raptors, so either way, they would be fine with the loss of Jakob Poeltl. Again, the players are not enough here, and Toronto part ways with a minimum of two first-round picks in this deal, too. (Again, more likely, much more.)
This deal is probably my favourite one out of the three, as Toronto gets rid of a forward and a centre, the two positions Giannis is going to play the most. They also keep Immanuel Quickley, who is a bigger need at the point guard position, as without him, you’re left with just Jamal Shead. It also opens up two roster spots. Going into next season, the Raptors have two open standard roster spots and one open two-way roster spot. This would mean Toronto now has four open roster spots to play with, and they could acquire some veterans to really make a push for a deep playoff run. Perhaps the Raptors could get away with adding just one first-round pick in these trades, but it would probably take many more.
There’s also this moment from seven years ago. There’s definitely a good Greek community here in Toronto, and this obviously won’t be the reason Antetokounmpo would want to play for the Raptors, but it doesn’t hurt their chances either. For now, it’s just rumours surrounding whether Giannis will even be traded. There’s nothing official about his desire to leave, but if he becomes available, the Raptors better do their diligence to acquire the two-time MVP.
The Raptors were a consistent 50-win team, year in and year out, the last time they swung for the fences and connected. These current Raps aren’t anywhere close to that, but in acquiring Ingram, the framework might already be in place. The only step left is to go out and get the megastar. Antetokounmpo fits the bill and then some. If he’s available, the Raptors need to make sure he finally lands in Toronto.
