With rumours that they have acquired seven-time All-Star Damian Lillard to play with two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks appear to have a deadly combo at their disposal.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Portland Timbers will also receive Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, and Toumani Camara as well as Milwaukee’s unprotected first-round draft pick in 2029, unprotected Bucks trade rights in 2028, and 2030. In addition, the Phoenix Suns will receive Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little, and Keon Johnson as part of the transaction.
One of the top point guards in the NBA, Lillard has played with the Trail Blazers his whole career. However, the 33-year-old had grown dissatisfied with the team’s lack of success during his tenure there: they had missed the playoffs for the previous two seasons, and the furthest they had advanced during his time in Portland was the Western Conference Finals in 2019, where they were defeated by the Golden State Warriors. He formally asked for a trade in July, not long after the Blazers selected Scoot Henderson, another guard, with the third overall pick in this year’s draft.
There had also been some rumors regarding Antetokounmpo’s future. In 2021, when he helped them win the NBA championship, he was named the MVP of the NBA Finals. However, this year, when they were defeated in the first round of the playoffs, Mike Budenholzer, their coach, was sacked. It seems that Antetokounmpo will stay in Milwaukee for the foreseeable future after the Lillard trade.
Lillard is a dynamic player by any standard. His career average of 25.2 points ranks fourth among active players (with at least 375 games) with at least 375 games played, trailing only LeBron James, Joel Embiid, and Kevin Durant. He has averaged at least 24 points per game in each of the last eight seasons. Luka Doni, Zion Williamson, and Trae Young would also be ahead of Lillard if the list were to be expanded to include all players without game minimums.
He has 17 games of at least 50 points in his career, two of which have come in the playoffs, scored 71 points against Houston this past season, and has won the NBA’s citizenship award. He has also previously won the rookie of the year and teammate of the year awards. At the Olympics in Tokyo, he and Team USA also took home the gold.
Lillard’s resume only has one notable omission—a title. He will try to change that with the Bucks.
In an interview with former teammate Evan Turner for the Point Forward podcast earlier this year, Lillard said, “I would sаy I want to be remembered for who I was, not as a player, but the principle that I stood on regardless of how successful I was, how major the failure was, the criticism, what people thought I should have done, what people think of me… no matter what was happening, I want to be remembered for who I was. “I took a stance. Every situation has called for me to be strong, and I want to be known for that.