With the Bucks going all in, is the Giannis dream over for the Toronto Raptors?

The Toronto Raptors had their eyes on the prize for quite a while now (Giannis in 2021 Free Agency). But their plans might have to change now.

You were either kept awake by Woj late at night or woke up to the Bucks news that struck the league. The Milwaukee Bucks traded for both, Jrue Holiday and Bogdan Bogdanovic. Two roster moves that solidify their roster further and ever so increases their chances at a title. And if you’re a Toronto Raptors fan who was kept awake by this, chances are you had a hard time sleeping at night.

Instead of counting sheep, I was counting down the number of days until December 21 — 33 days to be exact. This is the last day where Giannis Antetokounmpo can sign the supermax. At least the last day until 2021 free agency hits. This is important because it is something Masai Ujiri has been eyeing for quite a while now.

So how has the Giannis Antetokounmpo dream of potentially coming to Toronto come to an end? Well, it does feel as if all those trades had to be done with Giannis’ approval. Also, most likely meaning there’s no possibility they make those trades if they know Giannis isn’t going to sign the max — or at least we all assume.

This tweet by Marc Stein is also not the most encouraging sign for the Toronto Raptors:

More likely than not, the Giannis dream is dead. What Raptors fans have long been waiting for won’t be an option anymore. But let’s be realistic. Getting Giannis via free agency never was a guarantee. The Bucks were always the favorites to retain him, and if it wasn’t the Bucks, there were several other teams who were also interested — including the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors.

Let’s not forget the Toronto Raptors are still a really good team with Siakam, Anunoby, and hopefully Fred VanVleet as their cornerstone pieces. They will also still have a lot of cap space as expected going into 2021 free agency to sign any other star available — unlike this year’s free agency where the biggest name is Montrezl Harrell.

The Giannis dreams might be shattered, but the Raptors are still in a really good spot. They have all their first-round draft picks in the upcoming future and a whole lot of cap space to work with. For the moment, we can sleep well knowing we are in a good position for 2021.

Now the question is who does their focus shift to in the next free agency… Kawhi Leonard?