Before he was eventually traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, former Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard received a shocking text message.
It was from Toronto Raptors wing O.G. Anunoby and although it was a simple message, it was enough to briefly shake up Lillard’s world. According to Lillard, the text from Anunoby read “Welcome to Toronto” and there was no further context.
Lillard requested a trade from Portland at the beginning of July and he was essentially stuck in basketball purgatory for months before the Milwaukee deal was eventually completed. Although his reported preference was to play for Miami, the Raptors were another rumored suitor for his services.
The prank Raptors forward OG Anunoby pulled on Bucks star Damian Lillard that shocked him days before actual trade: “Welcome to Toronto.” pic.twitter.com/kSJ4WAAIKv
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) October 3, 2023
“Everything was up in there. I was on the phone and I got random text from O.G., like, welcome to Toronto. […] He [is] always messing around, like, joking and stuff like that because we train together in summer a little bit. And he texted me like, ‘Welome to Toronto!’ and so I was like ‘Let me call this dude and see.’ [When] I finally called him, he didn’t answer. Then he called me back and he was laughing.”
Lillard said the message caught him by surprise but he was naturally skeptical because Anunoby is always playing around.
While we now know that Lillard will play for the Bucks, if Portland had traded the guard to Toronto, it is very likely Anunoby (a rumored trade target for several teams at the deadline) would have gone to the Trail Blazers as part of the deal.
