The final stretch of days leading up to Damian Lillard’s trade to the Bucks involved the former Blazers guard being linked to the Raptors, and the chatter surrounding a potential Toronto deal picked up steam quickly.
While Lillard awaited word on how the situation would play out, he admitted that Raptors forward OG Anunoby pulled off a perfectly timed prank that left Lillard looking for answers.
“I was on the phone, and I just got a random text from OG [Anunoby] like, ‘Welcome to Toronto.’ … and he’s always like messing around, like joking and stuff like that,” Lillard told TNT’s Chris Haynes. “We trained together in the summer a little bit, and he texted me like, ‘Welcome to Toronto.’ So I was like, let me call this dude and see, and I finally called him—he didn’t answer, then he called me back, he was laughing and I was like, ‘Oh, O.K.’”
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
It was a prank well played by Anunoby, who clearly caught Lillard off guard. Although the Raptors did appear to be in the mix for Lillard at one point, it was the blockbuster offer from Milwaukee that ultimately got the job done.