{"id":140208,"date":"2025-05-18T18:46:34","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T22:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=140208"},"modified":"2025-05-18T18:46:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T22:46:34","slug":"giannis-antetokounmpo-trade-should-raptors-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/18\/giannis-antetokounmpo-trade-should-raptors-focus\/","title":{"rendered":"Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade Should Be This Team\u2019s Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Of all the players in the NBA, Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant<\/a> \u2014who\u2019ll eventually be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame \u2014has stirred up the most conversation<\/a> about their future destination. Yet, the noise surrounding Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> \u2014another future Hall of Famer \u2014is like that of an approaching train. With the only franchise he\u2019s ever been employed by going in the wrong direction, there\u2019s a genuine sense that the two-time NBA MVP could be packing his bags<\/a>, and sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not so much that Antetokounmpo\u2019s raring to leave. It\u2019s just that he has a very specific idea of how he wants the end of his career to look. More specifically, he visualizes himself competing for at least one more NBA championship.<\/p>\n

Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade Should Be Raptors\u2019 Focus<\/h2>\n

By all accounts, if Antetokounmpo believes he can accomplish that in Milwaukee, he\u2019ll gladly stay. However, the Bucks don\u2019t seem to be leaving him much choice but to leave, making myriad ill-fated moves. Thus, several teams are now being linked to Antetokounmpo in trade rumors.<\/p>\n

The Brooklyn Nets may be an unexpected potential destination. However, their barren roster likely isn\u2019t a wasteland to Antetokounmpo but one of opportunity<\/a>. With their cap space, they likely could sign or attempt a trade for a tag team partner of his choosing.<\/p>\n

\"\"
May 16, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (center left) talks with owner Joe Lacob (center right) during the second quarter of the game between the Golden State Valkyries and the Los Angeles Sparks at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Golden State Warriors don\u2019t seem like a smooth fit for Antetokounmpo due to their offensive philosophy. Nevertheless, they\u2019re the most successful franchise of the millennium. Frankly, the thought of him as Jonathan <\/a>Kuminga\u2019s<\/a> replacement is intriguing.<\/p>\n

The Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, and San Antonio Spurs have also consistently been mentioned as options<\/a>. One executive has even gone on record saying a trade sending Antetokounmpo to the Spurs would make them title favorites<\/a> (per The Athletic\u2019s Sam Vecenie). Meanwhile, the Heat and Rockets might just be one first option away from being title-contenders.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, another team that should have a high level of interest in an Antetokounmpo trade is the Toronto Raptors.<\/p>\n

Why TOR Needs To Go Greek<\/h3>\n

Like Miami and Houston, Toronto doesn\u2019t have a true No. 1.<\/p>\n

Scottie Barnes<\/a> \u2014a point-forward and dynamic defender \u2014has been their centerpiece. RJ Barrett<\/a> \u2014a slashing wing with playmaking ability \u2014has leveled up<\/a>. They recently traded for Brandon Ingram<\/a>, who\u2019s a savant in the midrange. Nonetheless, each of those players are \u2014at this point of their careers \u2014better off as second or third options on a championship-contender.<\/p>\n

The same can\u2019t be said of Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n

In the 2021 NBA Playoffs, he averaged 30.2 points per game on his way to winning a title. He also won NBA Finals MVP after averaging 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. Suffice it to say, the man has callouses on his hand; he can handle that.<\/p>\n

Whether they have to trade Ingram, Barrett or even Barnes to acquire Antetokounmpo, it\u2019s a must. With that being said, the Bucks could have interest in any of those three. Yet, Barnes\u2019s skillset is so similar to Antetokounmpo\u2019s that they might see him as his rightful successor.<\/p>\n

It may be foolhardy to believe Toronto can bottle lightning twice after their Kawhi Leonard<\/a> rental led to a ring<\/a>. The NBA is a dream world but not necessarily a fairytale. Just think about this though:<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo will be flanked by at least two players capable of averaging 20-plus points. His supporting cast will have several younger pieces that can play an uptempo style. The Raptors depth also includes a few impressive 3-point shooters.<\/p>\n

With the league as wide open as ever, why wouldn\u2019t they have a shot at raising another banner?<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of all the players in the NBA, Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant \u2014who\u2019ll eventually be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame \u2014has stirred up the most conversation about their future destination. Yet, the noise surrounding Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo \u2014another future Hall of Famer \u2014is like that of an approaching train. With […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":140214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1608,6,25,31,16,15,62,28,34,4721],"tags":[308,306,69,4774,1964,3852],"class_list":["post-140208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-raptors","category-basketball","category-nets","category-warriors","category-rockets","category-heat","category-bucks","category-nba","category-suns","category-spurs","category-trade-rumors","tag-brandon-ingram","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-kevin-durant","tag-rumors","tag-rj-barrett","tag-scottie-barnes"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140208"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140215,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140208\/revisions\/140215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}