With two days prior to the start of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, trade rumor season is swirling. The main subject of those rumors — Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo — certainly hasn’t done anything to avoid stoking the flames, as the Toronto Star reported that Antetokounmpo may have interest in joining the Raptors, who are seeking to accelerate their rebuild.
As Antetokounmpo hasn’t actively requested a trade, Milwaukee is still a -140 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook to retain his services next season, but Toronto has jumped from +5000 when the market opened all the way to +1000, the fourth-shortest odds. The San Antonio Spurs, who now wield the second overall pick as a trade chip in addition to, possibly, Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, jumped from +1200 to +380, while the Houston Rockets have risen from +2000 to +450.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Next Team Odds
With the Bucks suddenly staring down a precarious situation — they will pay $54.1 million next season to point guard Damian Lillard, who tore his Achilles tendon in the team’s first-round playoff series and likely will miss the entire season, and also have the league’s eighth-oldest roster — it might be in their best interest to move on from Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee has only 10 players under contract even if Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton, and Kevin Porter Jr. all accept their player options and has $164.8 million in cap obligations. It is unlikely to be a contender next season, even in a wide-open Eastern Conference, and it can also trade only one future first-round pick. Although the Bucks have $23 million to operate with beneath the luxury tax line, trading Antetokounmpo would replenish their haul of future assets.
Of course, they would likely only deal him if he requested a trade, although the Dallas Mavericks demonstrated that that’s not always the case. And even if he does, the price will certainly be high; Milwaukee won’t deal its two-time MVP for any package that doesn’t include both a young player and significant draft capital. There aren’t too many teams who can offer that, especially since players of Antetokounmpo’s ilk typically look to be traded to a contender, even if the Raptors don’t qualify as one for now.
The ultimate decision-making power lies with Jon Horst, but still, superstars tend to get their way: Anthony Davis forced his way to the Los Angeles Lakers, Jimmy Butler forced his way to the Golden State Warriors, and James Harden forced his way to three different teams in the span of four years. If Antetokounmpo demands to be traded to a certain team, he’ll almost certainly end up donning that squad’s uniform. Here are my three favorite potential landing spots for the Greek Freak, including the Raptors.
San Antonio Spurs (+380)
Antetokounmpo — a two-time MVP, one-time Defensive Player of the Year, and five-time All-Defensive honoree — may well be a top-five rim protector in the world, but he doesn’t hold a candle to the man who easily claims number one: San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama. Wembanyama would’ve won Defensive Player of the Year this season if he hadn’t been shut down at the All-Star break with a blood clot in his shoulder, and he managed to lead the league in total blocks despite playing just 46 games. This season, opponents shot just 50.8% within six feet of the basket when guarded by Wembanyama, the fourth-best mark among 80 players to defend at least 300 such shots, and Antetokounmpo’s 56.7% mark wasn’t too far behind.
Between Antetokounmpo and Wembanyama, the Spurs would have 14 feet, two inches of height, 15 feet, three inches of wingspan, and 23 letters of last names in their front-court, and both players are hyper-athletic and hyper-flexible. It would be virtually impossible to score against San Antonio, and the offensive possibilities would be immense. Both Antetokounmpo and Wembanyama are elite ball-handlers for their size and capable playmakers, and Wembanyama’s jumper significantly improved between his first and second seasons. He’d immediately be both the best big-man shooter and the best lob threat Antetokounmpo has ever played with, and Antetokounmpo’s drives would collapse the defense to provide Wembanyama with open shots.
The Spurs can also field one of the most competitive trade packages. Either the second overall pick — likely Rutgers’ Dylan Harper — or Castle will almost certainly be in the deal, which should be palatable for San Antonio, as Harper and Castle have similar archetypes. The Spurs also have enough large contracts to make the money work, as packaging Devin Vassell with one of Keldon Johnson or Harrison Barnes would get them to at least $44.5 million. Jeremy Sochan is an intriguing young talent whose efficiency took a major leap in 2024-25, and San Antonio also has a war chest of first-round picks, including the 14th overall pick this summer.
Toronto Raptors (+1000)
The last time the Toronto dealt for a blue-chip superstar, it won a championship that season, but that was a very different scenario, given that the Raptors were already contenders prior to swapping DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard. That 2017-18 Toronto team won 59 games before getting swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, while this season’s Raptors won just 30 games. They should be better next season — trade deadline acquisition Brandon Ingram, a former All-Star and All-NBA player, hasn’t suited up yet — but they’re still behind the Pacers, Cavaliers, and New York Knicks, at minimum, in the Eastern Conference hierarchy.
However, Antetokounmpo has long had a good relationship with Masai Ujiri, Toronto’s team president. Ujiri founded the charity Giants of Africa in 2003 and has been influential in identifying and developing African talent, including former Raptors wing Pascal Siakam, who hails from Cameroon and won Eastern Conference Finals MVP with Indiana last Friday. Although Ujiri was born in the United Kingdom and Antetokounmpo in Greece, both men have Nigerian ancestry and Ujiri reportedly was interested in drafting Antetokounmpo back in 2013. There are some 100,000 Greeks in the Greater Toronto Area, as well as nearly 50,000 Nigerians.
On the court, the Raptors do have some reasons for intrigue. Ingram has averaged 20 or more points per game in each of his last six seasons, although with a $38 million salary, it’s possible that he’d be included in an Antetokounmpo trade. RJ Barrett also averaged 20 points per game, Immanuel Quickley blossomed into a solid isolation scorer and passer, and Scottie Barnes and Gradey Dick are both intriguing young pieces. Antetokounmpo would likely have to play center in Toronto, but a starting lineup featuring Barnes, Jamal Shead, two of Quickley, Barrett, and Ingram, and Antetokounmpo could be interesting. The Raptors have their own first-round pick in each of the next seven seasons.
Cleveland Cavaliers (+3000)
Toronto didn’t look especially likely to make a move in the 2018 offseason despite getting swept by Cleveland in the second round, and while nobody is particularly expecting this Cavaliers team to take a huge swing on the heels of its 64-win regular season and second-round elimination to the Pacers, they should at least consider it. Thanks to Lillard’s and Jayson Tatum’s Achilles tears, there is no clear favorite in the East, and with Antetokounmpo on the roster, Cleveland would change that instantly. Currently, the Cavaliers have +1000 odds to win the 2026 NBA championship, the third-best among East squads.
It’s clear that Cleveland’s core of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen can win in the regular season, but Garland wasn’t able to stay healthy through the playoffs, and he struggled defensively alongside Mitchell. A front-court pairing of Mobley and Antetokounmpo would only be surpassed by the aforementioned Wembanyama-Antetokounmpo duo, as Mobley was both an elite rim protector and help defender in his Defensive Player of the Year-winning campaign. The Cavaliers are in a difficult cap situation, as they are well over the second apron and will pay nearly $100 million in taxes next season, but it will be worth it if they can add Antetokounmpo to their roster. The package would likely have to be build around Garland and Isaac Okoro, and they have only one tradable first round pick after dealing for Mitchell three summers ago, so they could be out-bid regardless. Plus, even after adding Antetokounmpo, they’d still have to deal Allen for a larger, cheaper guard.
Of the three teams listed here, Cleveland might be the most desperate. The Spurs have a cost-controlled superstar who will almost certainly be on their roster for at least another five seasons, and the Raptors are rebuilding. Mitchell is a top-10 player in the NBA who just made his first All-NBA First Team and has made the playoffs in all eight seasons of his career without ever advancing past the second round, and whose playoff career scoring average (28.3) is the seventh-best mark in NBA history. While Spida is reportedly happy even after the team’s failure this season, good will doesn’t always last long in the NBA, especially for small-market franchises, so if the Cavaliers want to keep Mitchell around for the rest of his career, making him Antetokounmpo’s Robin would be a great way to start.
