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Toronto Raptors looking to trade for a 'big fish' and rumour is it's Giannis Antetokounmpo

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
|
Jun 2 2025, 2:50 pm
Toronto Raptors looking to trade for a 'big fish' and rumour is it's Giannis Antetokounmpo
Trevor Ruszkowski/Imagn Images

If there’s ever a big name on the NBA trade market, never be surprised if the Toronto Raptors weasel their way into the negotiations.

And in the week leading up to the NBA Finals, the Raptors seem to have found themselves caught up in trade rumours once again.

In a mailbag column Monday for the Toronto Star, Doug Smith suggested that there’s “mutual interest” between Toronto and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

On Sunday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested that the Raptors are looking to target a “big fish,” with some believing that the Raptors could be interested in making a move with the Milwaukee Bucks.

“The Raptors are a team that is starting to make noise within the league about looking for a big fish,” Windhorst said on a Sunday episode of The Hoop Collective.

“If you’re an Eastern Conference team that’s in the middle of the pack, you’re looking at the teams in front of you going, ‘Some of them may not be able to come together, may not be able to stay together,'” Windhorst added. “Boston is hurt, and so there are some teams that sniff the ability to make a move, and I think Toronto is one of those teams.”

Antetokounmpo is entering year one of a three-year contract with a player option for the third year, at a total salary of US$175 million.

At this point, longtime Raptors fans have been pining over the Greek superstar for over half a decade, thinking that they’d have a chance to land him in free agency before he re-signed with the Bucks in 2020.

“True or false: one day, Giannis will play for the Toronto Raptors?” former Raptor Serge Ibaka asked Antetokounmpo on an episode of his How Hungry Are You? cooking show that aired back in 2022.

Exploring the Raptors’ possible package for a player like Antetokounmpo is interesting: they’ve got two one-time All-Stars in Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram, emerging talents like RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, and 10 players on their roster born in 2000 or later.

Of course, a combination of those players and a few draft picks might not exactly be enough to unearth a two-time MVP like Antetokounmpo.

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