Well… They confirmed it…

Well… They confirmed it…

Now, this just got very interesting as trade rumors have been escalating over the past 24 hours regarding Giannis onto Dumbo, including a confirmation on a trade request in the summer. And this is some Raptors fans very, very intrigued as the Raptors have long been interested in bringing in the superstar out of Milwaukee, but of course, the Raptors are in a much different position than they have been in seasons past, even this off season when we’ve heard the Giannis rumor trade really start to circulate. So, we’re going to break down the truth behind these rumors, the legit reports that we are getting out here now on this situation and how the Raptors are positioned for a potential Giannis trade, whether or not it makes sense for this team. On top of it, we have some injury updates out there for RJ Barrett. So, lots of stuff to break down. Right now, going remote, no Wi-Fi at my house. A crazy snowstorm is hitting St. John’s right now. So, yeah, we’re going remote. Found a spot to be able to record, get some Wi-Fi, and deliver you the latest news. So, without further ado, let’s uh not waste any time. But I will say, make sure you guys hit that subscribe button if you’re part of the 53% that haven’t hit that sub button just yet. On the mission for 50,000 subscribers by the end of the year, end of the season, not the end of the year. It would be great to get by the end of the year. But let’s dive into it. Because of course, Giannis has been long linked to the Toronto Raptors. It’s no shock, no surprise to anyone when a Giannis rumor comes up, the Raptors end up getting linked in some which way. And there was a lot of smoke come out over the past 24 hours. But one thing that isn’t smoked coming from one of the top reporters out there in the NBA, Brian Winhorse, dropped a bomb show essentially minutes ago, revealing that uh he has asked to be traded already. I know he asked for a trade, but then said, “I’ll be a buck for this year.” A lot of people in the league do not think he will be a buck by next season. So, this is very, very interesting coming from one of the most wellrespected reporters, Brian Winhorse, who wasn’t one of the guys jumping on the trade wagon. in the same way a guy like Shams Trannia was out there during the summer because we heard a lot of these reports out there during the offseason. I’ll do a little summarization of them if you haven’t uh you know been up to date with everything that was going on in the summer. Basically the start of the offseason from Shams Chirania we heard that MVP Giannis onto Dumbo has not made any firm decisions about his future. For the first time in his career he’s open-minded about whether his best fit is remaining in Milwaukee or playing elsewhere. So we heard that from Shams. He doubled down on it despite different reports coming out saying that there’s a difference between being open-minded from what I’m told and exploring other options. Actively exploring other options. There’s a difference between doing that and asking for a trade. He’s in the process of figuring out what he wants to do. So, we heard all this over the summer. The Raptors were of course linked a ton by Doug Smith here saying, “I don’t know if it’ll happen, but I do know there is mutual interest between Takumbo and the Raptors. The wild card is the cost. I think they’ll probably talk about Scotty Barnes as a centerpiece. I don’t think there’s anyone else on the roster they’d want to talk to. Now, of course, this was the summer and Scotty Barnes, in my opinion, should not be brought up, should not be discussed, should not be uh, you know, thrown out there in these Giannis talks here now at this point, especially where you’d have to add some other assets. So, you know, that is what’s going on. And then just a couple of weeks ago on top of it, we heard from Shams Trannia that the next guy to keep an eye on is probably Giannis. So there was a lot of discussion, a lot of discourse regarding Giannis onto Tumbbo, his future and all of that. And then what happened yesterday that caught the NBA by storm is a lot of things happened on social media for Giannis onto Tumbo as basically we’ll take a look at the you know tweet the context that’s going on first. Basically Giannis has deleted all posts from Twitter going back to 2021 and has removed all Bucks related content on his Instagram excluding his championship and NBA cup posts. This is the last tweet from his Twitter feed and it’s a happy birthday to Kobe. Uh some Lakers fans are running with this. Of course, you know, Lakers fans are going to run with anything. It’s not a I don’t think this is a declaration. He wants to be the Lakers, but that’s a conspiracy. So, I throw it out there. But, nonetheless, he deleted all off his Instagram, his social media. You see no Bucks there. He’s wearing a Greek jersey out there in his profile picture. Uh Twitter is the exact same thing. So, that is what we’re looking at. NBA athlete, no Milwaukee Bucks reference, nothing along those lines. So that was a bit of smoke that people are turning in. And then we have our fringe reporters already coming out and dropping stuff like this. So their report, again, take these guys with a grain of salt, but in the context of all of the other reporting and all the quotes that we’re going to dive into, you know, it’s worth bringing up, but they reported saying that after a rough start to the season, Milwaukee Bucks Giannis onto Takumbo has grown increasingly increasingly frustrated with the franchise. A source familiar with the situation tells the consensus. So that’s from the air report. On top of it, we have uh this image from NBA Trade Report, who you know, some people speculate on. He’s gotten some stuff right in the past, but teams are gearing up for a potential Giannis onto Kumbbo trade. Players who sign new contracts in the offseason become eligible for trade on December 15th, the unofficial start to NBA’s trade season. So, there’s a lot of stuff going on. On top of it, you have some quotes out there from Giannis himself basically saying, “I’ve want to win. We’ve lost seven in a row and I don’t remember the last time I’ve lost seven in a row. So that’s a quote directly from the horse’s mouth out there in Giannis onto Kumbo. And he also had this to say and basically in terms of what his thoughts are on his future at the beginning of the season. He says, “I’m a Milwaukee Bucks. I’m a Milwaukee Buck, but most importantly, I am a winner. If there’s any if there’s a better situation for me to win the Larry O’Brien trophy, I have to take that better situation.” So, he said that right from the jump, right from the start of this year. And frankly, the Milwaukee Bucks are not in that position to where they are a very competitive team out there in the Eastern Conference or just night and night out out there on the basketball court. You know, they’re really struggling rebounding, which is crazy because they gave all of that money to Miles Turner to, you know, he gave him 30 million bucks per year roughly annually. On top of it, you had to wave Damen Lord, which is another essentially $20 million per for a guy that’s now averaging 12 points per game. six rebounds, shooting 37% from the three-point line and stuff, but you know, he’s a solid player, but is a role player. Can’t be the running mate, the guy that you’ve invested so much money into playing alongside Giannis onto the Kumbbo. So, that is a, you know, a crazy development, a crazy move there in terms of their decisions and stuff regarding Miles Turner in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks are absolutely cooked out there in this conference. The East, there’s a lot of solid teams and they are not even in the playing picture here. Well, they’re in the picture. sure they can easily slide back in. They’re a game back of the Chicago Bulls, but right now they’re outside looking in in the playin spot. So, not even the playoff situation. So, the Bucks are in really, really rough shape. They don’t have any of their draft picks. They don’t have, you know, they invested a ton of money out there into Miles Turner and they made a trade last season for Kyle Koozma. Their two recent big moves have been complete duds for this team and right now it’s just a really messy spot for this squad. I mean, you take a look at how the Bucks are doing. Of course, you see the standings and all that. You’re you’re closer to Charlotte than you are the Raptors and stuff, but realistically, they’re losing a ton of games. They just had a brutal loss to the Washington Wizards. They sure they beat the Nets, but you know, you see L after L after L, lots of sevengame losing streak that Giannis spoke out on, and they’ve been brutal. When Giannis is out of the lineup, this team has zero shot of winning any games. And then when he’s in there, they’re basically a 500 team. So, Giannis, who’s looking to win, who’s looking to uh, you know, get some W’s, everything, all signs indicate to him wanting to ask out. And this is where the Toronto Raptors come to play because, of course, as that Doug Smith report and there was a ton of stuff over the course of the offseason about the Raptors being interested in bringing in Giannis, but you know, the mutual interest between onto Tumbo and the Raptors, Toronto’s in a tougher spot. and having to involve Scotty Barnes out there in one of these trade packages is just not something I am super comfortable with just given the age of Scotty Barnes and the the extreme potential he has been showing as of late. Currently this season averaging 20 points per game, eight rebounds, five assists, playing elite defense is really in the defensive player of the year consideration. One defensive player of the month out there in the Eastern Conference you for the past month of November, you know, 1.4 steals, 1.6 blocks per game. He’s been remarkably efficient out there for our guys. a lead role out there on the squad. Scotty Barnes has been fantastic and given his age, given his status, given what he’s been able to do, you know, throwing him and assets out there to get a Giannis onto Kumbbo, who yes, is phenomenal. Do not get me wrong, I know I’m a delusional Raptors fan, but you know, I lean on the optimistic side, but you have to be stupid in terms of making the argument that Giannis is a worse basketball player or Scotty is better than Giannis here right now at this juncture. But if you look at their ages, Scotty, you know, half a decade younger, right? Still only 24 years old. Giannis, who you know is under contract, expensive, all of these types of things. Will he be better out there in three seasons from now, four seasons from now? It’s really tough to tell. Giannis, of course, this season, taking a look at his stats, finally load, 31 points per game, 11 rebounds, six assists. Like, Giannis is fantastic, right? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a small volume in terms of his shots, but efficiency, points per game, everything. Giannis has been great this season. But long-term Scotty Barnes and assets and the pieces the Bucks would request, it is tough. Now, if you can get the deal done without including Giannis onto Tumbo, then I’ll be very much in a different boat and think in a different tune about making one of these Giannis trades. But it feels like Scotty Barnes would have to be in one of these deals. Maybe you can make something happen regarding a Brandon Ingram, RJ Bar, whoever the heck, some of the young guys, I don’t know. But I uh I’m less willing to even consider a Scotty Barnes or Giannis trade right now even than I was in the offseason. But I want to know what you guys think. Would you guys want to see the Toronto Raptors give up the farm out there for Giannis? Uh let me know in the comment section down below. Type Y for yes and type N for no. Got that popping up here. Of course, Y for yes, N for no. I’d like to know down in the comment section down below. But that’s not the only update we have to discuss out here in this video as we have some insights in terms of RJ Barrett’s injury return. So, uh, new reports have come out from Josh Loomberg revealing that RJ Barrett’s knee is improving, but he still isn’t participating in on the court team activities. Uh, per Darko, he remains out and is considered daytoday. So, this is something I find interesting because if he’s not performing onc court team activities, then uh why the heck is he dayto-day? That screams to me, you know, you have to get back to onc court activities in order to uh return to action very soon. But RJ Barrett, we’re really feeling his absence right now in terms of just how fluid the offense is able to look out there for this team, out there for this squad. But him being out for a stretch of time, at least they’re saying it’s dayto-day, which is somewhat positive. But I’d like to see RJ Barrett back very, very soon if we can make it happen. You know, we’re seeing Brandon Ingram’s efficiency has really taken a hit since RJ Barrett has gone down out there with this injury. So, it’s going to be very important for the Raptors to be able to bring him back and, you know, have an impact out there on this team, out there in these games. And what we are really looking for, right, this season averaging close to 20 points per game, five rebounds, four assists on solidly efficient shooting. Again, the three-point percentage could go up, but he has been absolutely fantastic for this group this entire year. But let me know what you guys think about all this in the comment section down below. How excited are you to see RJ Barrett return? And are you that interested in making one of those Yiannis trades? I’m really interested to see how people are feeling, especially with how good the Toronto Raptors have been this year. Interested to see what you guys have to say. Of course, I’ll respond to every comment, but I appreciate every single one of you. Hey, I’m saying no.

The Toronto Raptors have long been linked to Giannis Antetokounmpo, and now the latest developments reveal a trade is more likely than ever, but will the Raptors try to jump on it? Ben Rogers breaks down the newest reports as well as the latest injury updates to RJ Barrett.

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