Should the Raptors Trade For Nikola Jokic Next Summer?

There have been recently rumblings about Nikola Jokic and the Raptors, could we ever see him leave Denver?

Jokic is set to make just over $59 million in the 2026-27 season, but has a player option for 2027-28, so he could become a free agent as early as next summer.

If he was to ever leave his 2022 championship team, the Raptors could certainly be a viable option.

Firstly, you only need to look at the head coach of Toronto – Darko Rajakovic. He has the Serbian connection with Jokic, coaching him on the national team and the pair are reportedly quite close off the court.

Rajakovic couldn’t say enough good things about the big man in a recent interview.

“Nikola Jokic is the best player we [Serbia] have ever had,” he said on Kole Point. “As great of a player as he is, and he is fantastic, he is an even better person. We are living in the era of the greatest player we’ve ever had, and we need to do an even better job of promoting him as the greatest ambassador of Serbian basketball. He belongs in that category of players where there is simply no way to stop them. Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama and LeBron James are in that category. Those are players you simply cannot stop. You can try to slow them down, but at the end of the day, you have to pray to God that it’s not their night and that they miss some shots.”

The Raptors have a glaring need at center, as they were ranked 24th in rebounds last season and Jokic is one of the best passing centers the game’s ever seen, providing them with automatic options on both ends of the floor.

Jakob Poeltl as the starter going into the season, who doesn’t even rank in the top ten of NBA centers and struggled with his play last season.

Toronto would need to include a player such as Poeltl, Immanuel Quickley or RJ Barrett, along with first-round picks to make a trade work, but we just saw Miami land their man in Giannis, so it is possible for a team to land a big European fish like Jokic.