2023-09-27 23:12:25
Damian Lillard leaves the Blazers after 11 seasons of loyal service. Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire / Icon SMI / Panoramic
Eager to leave the Blazers for several weeks, the 33-year-old All Star point guard is joining the Bucks in a trade that involves three teams.
Damian Lillard and Portland, it’s over. “Dame” heads to Milwaukee according to ESPN . Information quickly confirmed by The Athletic. It’s not official yet, but it’s just like it. Eager to leave the Blazers after 11 years of loyal service, the 33-year-old All Star point guard got what he wanted. Well almost… It’s no secret that the number 6 of the 2012 Draft wanted to join Miami. It was his number 1 choice, the only one in fact. The Heat, however, did not go “All in” in this matter. Lillard did not have a no-trade clause. Clearly, the leaders of the Oregon franchise had no obligation to grant his request. Miami should therefore have put itself at the level of the competition. In recent hours, there has been a lot of talk about Toronto’s interest. We also talked about Boston, Philadelphia or Chicago, but also Milwaukee, which therefore pocketed the bet… with a little help from Phoenix.
Milwaukee’s future new player didn’t take long to react, promising “Trail Blazers fans and the city of Portland“, that he “really like», to contact them soon. In the meantime, the native of Oakland (California) says to himself “excited for the new chapter» of his career and life with the Bucks. A priori, Lillard is therefore not going to Wisconsin dragging his feet, he who is under contract until 2026-27 (player option), at the rate of $45.6 million this season, 48.8 the next, 58.6 the next and finally 63.2 in 2026-27.
Lillard ‘excited’, Butler bitter
If Lillard doesn’t sulk, Jimmy Butler has it bad. The Miami star openly accuses Milwaukee of “tampering” in an Instagram story. Atmosphere… “Y’all should investigate the Bucks for tampering… You didn’t hear it from me, but I heard it from someone else», he blurted, addressing the NBA. A priori, his teammate Tyler Herro shares his opinion according to his latest publication on Twitter… Which Herro was offered almost everywhere for a trade this summer, and in particular in Portland. Remember that the Bucks were singled out by the NBA at the end of 2020 for violating the rules regarding “tampering”. They had discussed with free agent Bogdan Bogdanovic outside the legal framework, which cost them their second round of Draft in 2022. And this while said Bogdanovic had finally joined… Atlanta. Double penalty.
Portland recovers Jrue Holiday (who should quickly be traded to a title contender), Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara and the first round of the Milwaukee Draft in 2029. The Blazers will also be able to exchange their first round choice with the Bucks in 2028 and 2030 if they wish. Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson are heading to Phoenix. Remember that the Arizona club made one of the big moves of the offseason by associating Bradley Beal with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, no less.
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Fiery duo with Giannis Antetokounmpo
Author of a season with 32.2 points per game in 2022-23, a record in franchise history, Lillard once again watched the play-offs on television. Portland indeed finished with 33 wins and 49 losses, finishing outside the qualifying places for the second year in a row. Top scorer in the history of the Portland club (19,376 points) and member of the list of the 75 best players in history unveiled in 2021, Lillard has only reached the Conference finals once, in 2019 (0- 4 against Golden State). With Greek superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, he will try to win his first NBA championship title. The kind of goal that he no longer had the right to aim for for a long time with Portland… Faithful among the faithful, “Dame” waited for several years before requesting a trade at the beginning of July. “We no longer want the same thing», he recently explained for BackOnFig . A page turns.
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