{"id":695744,"date":"2026-04-03T11:40:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T11:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/695744\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T11:40:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T11:40:37","slug":"why-the-toronto-raptors-must-acquire-giannis-antetokounmpo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/695744\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Toronto Raptors Must Acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The regular season is winding to a close, meaning we are getting increasingly closer to not just the playoffs, but eventually, the offseason. As basketball enthusiasts, the offseason is the climax that changes the trajectory of the new year, and if you\u2019re a fan of the Toronto Raptors, you\u2019ve seen this story before. Blockbuster signings, shocking trades, and the \u201dall-in\u201d moves that help a team atop the daring rankings of the NBA. The Raptors\u2019 2019 title run<\/a> is a prime example of an aggressive front office trading for a generational superstar in Kawhi Leonard<\/a>, transforming a generic playoff contender into world champions.<\/p>\n

That magical feeling is awaiting once again for the \u201d6ix\u201d and this offseason, we could see history repeat itself with Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>. For years, rumors have been brewing of Giannis requesting a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee panicked, acquiring Damian Lillard<\/a> in 2023 from Portland (later traded in 2025) and Myles Turner<\/a> last offseason from Indiana.<\/p>\n

It\u2018s getting dark in Milwaukee, which is why I\u2018d argue the Raptors should consider pursuing Giannis this offseason.<\/p>\n

Why the Toronto Raptors Must Acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo
\nProven Playoff Success<\/p>\n

We are currently halfway into the 2020\u2018s, and the Toronto Raptors have only reached the playoffs twice: in 2020 (defeated by Celtics in seven games) and 2022 (defeated by 76ers in six), making it once in the Scottie Barnes<\/a> era. Toronto is expected to reach the playoffs this season; however, for a team lacking star power, they can always improve.<\/p>\n

Trading for Giannis revitalizes the Raptors as a whole, bringing in a load of playoff experience and success. In his 13-year career, Antetokounmpo has reached the Eastern Conference Finals twice, with 2021 being the year of Milwaukee\u2018s remarkable championship run.<\/p>\n

The Defensive Recovery<\/p>\n

In the modern NBA, \u201cscramble\u201d defense is everything. When a defender gets beat, the rest of the team has to rotate, which is why a duo of Jakob Poeltl<\/a> and Giannis just makes sense.<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo has the recovery to switch in and out of the paint in order to contest a three-pointer or a midrange jumper, while blocking a shot attempt all in one possession. On top of that, Giannis boasts a 6\u201911\u201d frame while Poeltl possesses a 7\u20192\u2033 wingspan to block shots at an elite level. Ironically enough, we are seeing this same scheme in San Antonio with Luke Kornet<\/a> and Victor Wembanyama<\/a>, and look at how that is going.<\/p>\n

If a trade like this occurs, we could consider the duo as Toronto\u2019s \u201dTwin Towers,\u201d leaving opposing offenses with little room to generate points.<\/p>\n

Gravitational-Like Pull on Offense<\/p>\n

In today\u2018s NBA, teams usually have one or two \u201drim threats.\u201d Pairing Giannis with Barnes and Brandon Ingram<\/a> would fix this. Essentially, if Ingram drives to the basket, the defense must stay glued to Barnes and Antetokounmpo. This leaves BI with either a wide open lane or a simpler 10-foot jumper. You aren\u2019t winning with shooting but instead with a physical presence.<\/p>\n

The Last Word<\/p>\n

Trading for Giannis \u2014 while retaining both Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes \u2014 is more than a generic roster move or \u201cSuperteam\u201d;\u00a0it\u2018s a total pivot in the franchise\u2019s trajectory. If Toronto has the opportunity to pair a generational star with the league\u2019s most versatile playmakers, a second banner could appear in the rafters of ScotiaBank Arena.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Robert Edwards-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The regular season is winding to a close, meaning we are getting increasingly closer to not just the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3770],"tags":[7,4441,123,1399,6,681,1261,680,476,3820],"class_list":{"0":"post-695744","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-raptors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brandon-ingram","10":"tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","11":"tag-jakob-poeltl","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-raptors","14":"tag-scottie-barnes","15":"tag-toronto","16":"tag-toronto-raptors","17":"tag-torontoraptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116340592387730697","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}