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Toronto Raptors Global Ambassador Drake sent the team's fans into a frenzy by posting rumored trade target Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's picture on his Instagram story. Gilgeous-Alexander is donning the Canadian national team jersey in that post.
Here's the image (via Clutch Points on Twitter):
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Rumors have circulated that the player might ask for a trade if the OKC Thunder, his current employers, keep recording more losing seasons. He hasn't indicated his desire to leave. However, OKC has gone 46-108 since the 2020-21 season and is likely to record another losing year.
The Raptors, his hometown franchise, have emerged as a potential landing spot if SGA makes a U-turn on his decision to be a part of the Thunder's rebuild. According to Josh Lewenberg of TSN, the Raptors "are monitoring" the Gilgeous-Alexander situation.
The Toronto Raptors have previously been linked to top targets like Kevin Durant, Donovan Mitchell, Deandre Ayton and Rudy Gobert this offseason. None of those possible deals went down, but it displayed the front office's intent to improve their roster and speed up the process of returning as title contenders.
They have a young core comprising Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes and OG Anunoby. The team made the playoffs as the No. 5 seed last season. Adding an All-Star caliber player like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could take them to the next level.
Drake dons the recruiter role for the Toronto Raptors yet again
Rapper Drake, the Global Ambassador of his hometown NBA team, the Toronto Raptors, is closely linked to the franchise. The singer-songwriter keeps tabs on his favorite NBA team's moves.
Drake has strong connections with players in the league. He has used that as an opportunity to become a recruiter for the Raptors. His recent Instagram story about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander isn't the first time the rapper has tried to influence a player to join Toronto.
Before that, Drake famously started his campaign to convince Kawhi Leonard to stay in Toronto after the team's 2019 championship win. Leonard was the Finals MVP that year.
He was courted by the LA Lakers and LA Clippers as well. Leonard eventually joined the Clippers in free agency. However, Drake didn't fall short on his efforts to help his favorite team ensure "The Klaw" stays with the Raptors in the long run.
Meanwhile, Drake once cost the Toronto Raptors a $25k fine for playing with the tampering rules. This dates back to 2014 when the rapper tried to recruit superstar Kevin Durant for the Raptors at a concert during the OVO Fest in Toronto.
Drake was the Global Ambassador for the Raptors at the time as well, which led to the franchise being fined for making a public pitch to recruit Durant to join the team.
