Dec 15, 2020
With Giannis off the board, what’s next for the Raptors?
Although there isn’t an obvious Plan B for the Toronto Raptors right now after the Greek Freak announced on Tuesday he will sign his super-max contract extension with the Milwaukee Bucks, it’s only a matter of time before another NBA superstar becomes available. In the meantime, the Raptors remain competitive as they keep their options open, Josh Lewenberg writes.
TORONTO – On to Plan B.
The Raptors’ interest in Giannis Antetokounmpo has been one of the NBA’s worst kept secrets.
From the moment they lost the Kawhi Leonard sweepstakes – less than a month after winning the championship in the summer of 2019 – they’ve had their sights set on 2021, with the league’s biggest prize as their top target.
Masai Ujiri has been pining for Antetokounmpo since before he was dubbed the Greek Freak, as we were recently reminded in Open Gym’s “The Bubble” documentary, which took us behind the scenes of the 2013 draft with a clip of Toronto’s brass desperately trying to acquire a top-14 pick to select the future two-time MVP.
Their hopes of luring the talented forward north, or even having a chance to pursue him in free agency next summer – and the hopes of several other teams – were dashed on Tuesday, when Giannis used social media to announce his intention to remain in Milwaukee long-term. As multiple reports have confirmed, the 26-year-old will sign his super-max contract extension, worth roughly $230 million over the next five seasons – the richest deal in NBA history.
It’s a big-time win for Antetokounmpo, who hawked watches on the streets of Athens as a kid to help support his family, and for the Bucks – a small-market team that mortgaged the future to upgrade their roster in the hopes of appeasing their young superstar.
It is, however, a disappointing turn of events for Toronto, even if it’s not an entirely surprising one.
The Raptors knew the odds weren’t in their favour. Even though they felt confident in the pitch they could make, and even with Ujiri’s connection to Antetokounmpo and his family, they always knew that landing basketball’s most coveted player was something of a pipe dream.
Still, Antetokounmpo represented a conceivable path back to where Leonard left them and the chance to open another – and much longer – window to contend for championships. The thought of adding a generational talent like Antetokounmpo to a promising young core that already included Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby was worth holding onto, as unlikely as it seemed. You could close your eyes and envision it. Giannis was their white knight.
With Antetokounmpo off the board, they’ve got to find another way back to the top of the mountain. If that stings – losing something that they never had – it’s because there isn’t an obvious Plan B that you can reasonably picture taking them there.
James Harden wants out of Houston, and the Raptors have shown that they’re willing to roll the dice on a disgruntled star, even if they’re not on his list of preferred destinations. But it’s not as simple as plugging him into their core and counting the rings they’d win in your head. Finding a workable, and plausible, trade is difficult, and that’s assuming he’s even available. How much would he cost? Would he even be a good fit?
What about free agency? With only Siakam, VanVleet and Malachi Flynn under guaranteed contract past this season, the Raptors are in line to have significant cap space next summer. However, the highly anticipated free agent class of 2021 has taken a hit this past week, with Antetokounmpo and Paul George both signing extensions. Unless Leonard opts out of his final season with the Clippers, all-stars Victor Oladipo and Rudy Gobert should highlight that crop. Would either player – both really good, but neither in the same tier as Giannis or Kawhi – move the needle enough to justify the max salaries that they’ll command on the open market?
Fortunately, you can be sure that this scenario isn’t sneaking up on Ujiri or Bobby Webster. Given their track record, it’s highly unlikely that they ever had all their eggs in the Giannis basket. It’s also unlikely that the news of Antetokounmpo’s extension drastically alters their approach for next summer, and beyond.
For as long as they’ve been at the helm of Toronto’s front office, the organization has valued flexibility – keeping their options open and being able to change course when deemed necessary.
The NBA landscape is constantly shifting, and the Raptors know that better than most teams. A few months ago, Harden was happy in Houston. A year earlier, Anthony Davis was happy in New Orleans. A year before that, Leonard was happy in San Antonio.
Who will be the next superstar player to grow tired of their current situation and be made available? It’s seemingly impossible to predict, but at this rate and in this league, it’s only a matter of time.
If there isn’t an obvious Plan B out there now, that doesn’t mean there won’t be one by next summer, or perhaps even earlier. In the meantime, the Raptors remain competitive. They’re a really good team that – with their assets and cap flexibility – are well positioned to strike if and when the opportunity to become great presents itself. It’s a formula that’s worked for them before.