Raptors viewed by NBA exec as "dark horse" for landing Giannis: report
If you thought the rumours around the Toronto Raptors are slowing down anytime soon, well, it might be time to start following a new team.
Last summer, much of the offseason was spent pondering if Toronto could end up with Kevin Durant, who stuck with the Brooklyn Nets through much of last season before ultimately being shipped to the Phoenix Suns right before the trade deadline.
But Toronto is now being linked to another one of the NBA’s biggest stars, even if it may seem like a long shot.
Speaking to Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney, at least one NBA executive labelled the Raptors as a dark horse candidate to eventually land Giannis Antetokounmpo, who recently gave an interview suggesting that he could end up elsewhere than Milwaukee over the second half of his career.
“I think you can’t rule out those kinds of teams,” the executive said, grouping in Toronto with San Antonio, who landed 7-foot-4 French phenom Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft. “Giannis has always carried himself like he is all about winning, like that is what matters most to him. He is a little different. I mean, that is the reputation, anyway. If that is really the case, then wouldn’t he want to go play for [Gregg Popovich], play alongside Wemby there? If Toronto can give up only one of its guys and [bring] back Giannis? They would really have something there.”
Antetokounmpo is currently signed through the 2025-26 season, with a player option for his final year.
To acquire a player of his calibre, Toronto would need to part ways with at least one major piece of their roster and a series of draft picks, but it’d be a hard opportunity for the Raptors to pass up if there was ever a serious trade offer on the table.
Antetokounmpo’s playoff battles with the Raptors in the 2017 first round and 2019 Eastern Conference are the stuff of legend, although it seems like a lifetime ago based on NBA standards.
Since he last played Toronto in the postseason, Antetokounmpo has picked up a pair of regular season MVP awards and won the 2021 NBA Finals and Finals MVP. This past season, he finished third for the award behind Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, the seventh straight season he’d registered votes for the award.
While a blockbuster trade might be a few summers away, it’s at least a situation to monitor over the coming years to see if Toronto could land a superstar player in a trade as they did back in 2018 when they acquired Kawhi Leonard.