The Damian Lillard saga came to an end on Wednesday when he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of a three-team deal with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Phoenix Suns.
Lillard requested a trade out of Portland after 11 years with the organization this summer and preferred to be moved to the Miami Heat. Without a no-trade clause in his contract, Lillard didn’t have much control about where he ended up. The Trail Blazers originally were going to work to accommodate him, but were never impressed with the trade packages the Heat put forward.
GM Joe Cronin made it clear what they wanted for Lillard and said they’d “wait months” for the right deal to come along. And that deal came from the Bucks.
Here’s a roundup of what those around the NBA are saying about the Lillard trade.
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“But Lillard can transform rosters considering his talent. He brings incredible shooting and scoring abilities for the Bucks, which should take a lot of the scoring burden off (Giannis) Antetokounmpo. How Lillard fits in will be a question mark early on, but that’s an area the Bucks will be able to smooth out starting with training camp next week.”
Shams Charania and Eric Nehm, The Athletic
“The blockbuster deal has ripple effects that will be felt around the entire league, including other teams who had been seen as possible destinations for Lillard. The Miami Heat had long been believed to be the most likely destination for Lillard, with the NBA superstar letting it be known that it was his preferred destination. In recent days, reports had emerged that the Toronto Raptors could wind up with Lillard.”
“Now the Heat are left to pick up the pieces after an offseason built around a trade they ultimately couldn’t make. Miami still has two open roster spots that it was likely holding for the sake of flexibility in a possible deal. The Heat lost key free agents Max Strus and Gabe Vincent in July, and with pretty much every notable free agent off the board, they have no means of replacing them externally. Miami’s push for a third Finals trip in five years just grew significantly more difficult.”
Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat forward
“Yo, NBA, man. Y’all need to look into the Bucks for tampering. Y’all do. I’m just going to put that out there. Y’all didn’t hear it from me. But I heard it through somebody else. Look at them for tampering.”
“Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo in recent years flirted with idea of playing with one another but the hold up was each star wanted the other to join their team. Milwaukee landed Antetokounmpo’s desired star mate.”
“The Bucks give Damian Lillard a much better chance to win championships than the Heat would have.”
“The Blazers said they wanted to accommodate that request. But the fact Lillard had pegged Miami as the only place he wanted to go — and that his representatives were trying to depress the market by scaring off other potentially interested suitors, telling them they’d be getting an unhappy Dame if they dealt for him — complicated matters. (The NBA later sent all 30 teams a memo emphasizing any comments suggesting a player “will not fully perform the services called for under his player contract in the event of a trade” will be subject to league discipline.)”
Darren Hartwell, NBC Sports Boston
“Perhaps not coincidentally, Milwaukee’s blockbuster comes about a month after Antetokounmpo left open the possibility that he could leave the Bucks if the team didn’t have more success in the future.”
“Bringing Lillard to Milwaukee certainly suggests the commitment is there. It also keeps the high-scoring guard away from Miami, one of the Bucks’ biggest Eastern Conference challengers.”
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