The Damian Lillard news that we’ve been waiting for all offseason finally broke on Wednesday afternoon, as the Bucks reached an agreement to acquire the star guard from Portland in a three-team deal that will send former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton to the Trail Blazers.
Lillard and agent Aaron Goodwin made it clear shortly after Dame asked to be traded that the 33-year-old only wanted to be dealt to Miami. Instead, he’ll end up in Milwaukee, joining one of the Heat’s biggest Eastern Conference rivals. In his first public statement since news of the deal broke, Lillard said goodbye to Portland and seemingly put to rest any speculation that he would decline to report to his new team.
“The casuals won’t be addressed but the Trail Blazers fans and city of Portland that I love truly will be … and they will be addressed truthfully. Stay tuned,” Lillard wrote on Twitter. “Excited for my next chapter! @Bucks.”
Here’s more on the Lillard trade:
- The Trail Blazers didn’t re-engage with the Heat prior to accepting the Bucks’ offer on Wednesday, a league source tells Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). According to Chiang, the communication between Miami and Portland this offseason was pretty limited, and the Heat only learned about the trade when Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news.
- According to Chiang (Twitter link), Goodwin put out a statement today on the Heat‘s pursuit of his client: “They did everything they could to acquire Dame. It takes two to get a deal done. I appreciate all that Pat (Riley), Andy (Elisburg) and Micky (Arison) did to try and make this happen.”
- With Jrue Holiday expected to remain very available for trade after being sent to Portland, the Sixers will be among the teams with interest in acquiring him, reports Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports (Twitter link). If the 76ers were to land Holiday, I imagine it would be in a multi-team deal involving James Harden, though that’s just my speculation.
- Holiday also seems to fit the mold of the type of player the Heat would covet, Chiang notes (via Twitter), though he acknowledges that the veteran guard’s market could be “robust.”
- No longer having Deandre Ayton‘s long-term, maximum-salary contract on their books is considered a positive for the Suns, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link). Rankin adds that new Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic is viewed as a good team player who buys into his role, is loved by teammates, and can help the Suns with his passing.
- Shortly after the news of Lillard’s trade to Milwaukee broke, Heat star Jimmy Butler took to Instagram to send a message to the league, as ClutchPoints relays (Twitter video link). “Yo NBA, man, y’all need to look into the Bucks for tampering,” Butler said. “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, y’all look at them for tampering.”
- The Bucks‘ and Suns‘ championship betting odds both increased as a result of today’s trade news, per Alex Kennedy of BasketballNews.com (Twitter link). Kennedy says that one sportsbook has moved Milwaukee from +700 to +370 and Phoenix from +800 to +600.
- As Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report observes (via Twitter), Lillard’s move to Milwaukee will reunite him with his former coach. The Bucks hired Terry Stotts this offseason as Adrian Griffin‘s lead assistant. Stotts was Portland’s head coach from 2012-21.
Great deal for all three teams involved. Portland can move Holiday and get more assets.
I always thought Lillard needed someone like Holiday or Mike Conley next to him to make up for his inept defensive ability. Now I think Holiday could be a great mentor for Scoot and all the youngsters in PDX, but I think he’s going to be shopped for another young big or draft picks+ a young player. I hope he’s willing to stay and mentor, but I don’t think he’s in PDX plans for anything other than a trade asset. Great job getting rid of N’Urcle for a decent defender big in Ayton. I also believe the Bucks will be worse defensively now and teams will be able to run them out of some games. Defense wins and the Blazers got better defensively. Schonz would be saying RIP City!!! A sad ending for the hard working Lillard in PDX but good luck as a buck. PS Dame, bring warm clothes it’s much colder than Miami. You can still get on a boat there but watch out for icebergs instead of sharks!
Zero chance Holiday wants to “stay and mentor” in Portland. Dude is trying to win a championship, not waste his last couple prime years in last place mentoring some you guys. There’s no way you actually think he would do that lmao
Ayton’s a downgrade defensively from Nurkić.
Ayton Def Rtg is 111, Nurkic 114
Tampering?? C’mon Jimmy, just worry about coasting during the season so you can become a playoff monster. That’s what you’re good at….not starting rumors.
It’s also laughable considering all the nonsense calling and emailing teams not to try and trade for Lillard and he was going to be in Miami.
It’s fair since Milwaukee was the ones that accused Miami of tampering when they got Lowry
Buckets’ source is probably Dame himself in a text. I imagine the conversation went a little something like this:
Jimmy: “That sucks Man, I really was looking forward to playin’ wit you.”
Dolla Dame: “Yo’ dawg, it cool. Just got off the horn with Giannis and after we vibed I figured and no offense bro, but if I’ma finna win a ‘chip I’d be much better off in MKE then South Beach.
The only thing I can think of he would be implying would be that the NBA told PDX they could not trade him to Miami because of his trying to force his way there, and that the league basically barred the trade.
Wouldn’t be the first time
Surely Butler was joking? All the talks about tampering to get Lillard to the Heat, and instead he joined another team. Hence, who tampered now?
Three Thoughts:
1. Lillard can be passive aggressive all he wants in that tweet. The truth is the Blazers subreddit, blogs, etc where all those true or hardcore Blazers fans are were places that were making fun of him and criticizing him for the whole loyalty and “never run from the grind” stuff. It isn’t just casuals even if he wants to pretend it is.
2. Goodwin and the Heat front office and writers can say whatever they want. The offers they gave the Blazers were nowhere close enough to get a deal done. In addition, maybe if they didn’t spend all that time with the nonsense about Lillard only wanting and playing for the Heat the Blazers would have been more willing to negotiate. I think that Goodwin might have cost his client his desired team.
3. So much for the Heat. This team let some of their key rotation playoff guys go and have nothing to show for it. They also spent the whole playoffs and offseason treating Herro like they don’t want him or need him. Now that he’s back that will be awkward. Finally, all that talk about saving assets for a trade for other stars might have backfired. It’s a lot less likely Giannis becomes available. The Heat might be this decade’s version of the Mavs post finals where they couldn’t get any additional stars no matter how much they tried and wasted an aging core.
What TF did Phoenix even get? That trade made no sense for them
Depth and a center who doesn’t mind doing the dirty work. I love this trade for Phoenix. Love this trade for the bucks also. Poor Miami got left holding the bag with no depth and training camp around the corner.
Depth? Phoenix will be lucky to get 20 games out of Nurkic. The only dirty work he’ll be doing is dirtying up his panties cause he to broke too get off the couch
I agree … Nurk hasn’t been the picture of reliability as of late. Plus with CP3 gone, not really sure he fits into their flow on offense.
They got depth and out of a bad contract. When you have KD, Booker, and Beal there’s only so many shots to go around. Getting a bunch of depth is more beneficial than another star.
It makes perfect sense for PHX, what are you talking about
Hahaha, ok go ahead, who is gonna be there Center while Nurkic is out for the season? Durant? Ahahahahahahaha
Don’t act like Ayton didn’t also miss his own fair share of games. I loved Ayton in PHX, but to get out of his massive contract and get a C that can get about 80% of his production at 50% of the cost was too good to pass up. I was really intrigued to see if Ayton could take that final leap into superstardom, guess I’ll see if he can achieve it in PDX instead of PHX
ayton ain’t miss the time Nurkic has, and he was putting up worse numbers on a worse team. On phoenix hell be lucky to score 6ppg.
The problem y’all neglecting is KD isn’t gonna last forever. Ayton gives the Suns hope for a future past the next two years. Who cares about the contract, they over the cap anyways.
The market for Holiday will almost certainly be robust. POR should take its time, as the player will likely become more valuable as the deadline approaches. He has the game to push a contender into the winner’s circle, and has done it. If a team wants to end run this, then the starting point should be a young rotation piece and two FRPs.
Jrue Holiday to Miami and then Lowry to Portland?
Riley’s ego might prevent him from trading with POR now lol
Why? Jrue for Lowry and 2 1sts is better than what they had to put together for Dame.
Butler…. Waaaaah, waaaah, tampering – lololol
ELI5: How would the Bucks have tampered? What actions is BUlter implying they took?
yeah Im sure Jimmy Butler has no convos with Dame this off-season. lol
plus the “I heard it from a guy” argument online is hardly ironclad
Bulter is a twat. tampering? really?
Firstly..did the Bucks get any better? I don’t think so. Dame is a great scorer but he’s ball dominant – he can’t be the old Dame with Giannis being the primary guy, so suddenly, Dame’s best skill is restricted. Defensively he’s bordering on liability – Jrue was the opposite, one of the best defensive guards in the league. They swapped out a really good two-way player, for a great scorer who’s not going to get as much opportunity to score, with worse D.
Secondly, Jimmy Butler talking about tampering by the Bucks is moronic. Does he not see that Dame openly tried to force his way to Miami? Dude is just salty that his team missed out.
The offense and outside shooting is better for sure. The question is whether the defense is worse enough to make it scratch.
Dame’s lack defense might not be as big of deal as people are making it out to be. The Bucks still have two of the best defensive players in the league.
Does jimmy butler even understand what tampering is? Lol.
Cmon bulls, make a move for jrue. Always love 2way player like him.
Interesting trade…
I didn’t think Portland could get young talent in a trade because Dame is far outside of the small PG prime window… Picks and some bloated contracts but not someone one Aytons level…
The Bucks maybe scrambling to keep Giannis happy… But this could work out…
Works for everyone involved… Jrue can be a mentor or moved for more assets for the rebuild… Milwaukee makes it look like they are trying and the Suns move on from their Ayton issues…
Chris Paul, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga, 2 first round picks for Jrue Holiday and whatever salary needs to come with him?
Your salaries are good as is and thats about what I expect for Jrue, 2 firsts and a youngin with a little promise
* I didn’t add GSW to my sweepstakes but probably should have now that you spell out that framework
I don’t think you missed anything. Probably never going to happen but I would love it if it did.
It would give the Warriors two or three years of contention instead of year by year and constant adjustments to the bench.
I’m souring a little bit on Kuminga and Moody but hopefully Paul can do something with them considering many mention Ayton fell off a cliff when Paul left the Suns. Fingers crossed but wow, Jrue Holiday on the Warriors would be fantastic.
Nobody wants Harden ……. when will Philly wake up and see Morey for who he is ……
Doesn’t have an eye for talent. He’s a COUNTER. Harden made him. Now Harden will take him down with him …..
Sixers would be smart to find a way to get Jrue. But imo he’s a better fit in Miami. And Heat can offer a better deal.
NYK time !!!!!!!! DeM DeR to Knicks.
Potential Jrue spots
– Tor – can match easily enough, have assets, future cap and need a PG, would probably want ext talks to be done prior
Pelicans – The money match is def difficult here but assets and desire should align well…would want ext talks prior as well
Mia- Like the idea of Lowry mentoring Scoot – Easy money match can probably land the Lowry expiring 2 firsts and 1 of Jovic/Jaime
Nyk Brk and Chi will all ask… Orl sneaky wildcard that could go Big if ext is in tow upon deal
I hope he goes back east tho, west dont need this pest
I would say Miami has to go hard after Jrue Holiday now. They have egg on their face to some degree so to get something done on paper this off season you’d think all hands would be on deck working the phones direct line to the Portland Trail Blazers war room.
Many might say the relationship is fractured but when it comes to business you put emotions aside if you’re any good and work on the task at hand. I believe Pat Riley is that guy.., well.., perhaps. LOL
100% , I don’t think there’s any fractures, in fact Jrue might be easier to obtain for Mia as his cost is cheaper…just happens to be a great fit as well in all regards
They’ll be about 10 FO’s calling on Holliday tho whereas the market for Dame was prolly sub 5 . Even tho I like all my fits above Id still take the field bet as Jrue is just the kinda perimeter defender every team wants today
Dame’s the much sexier choice, clutch as hell – but Jrue can score and plays defense at the elite level.
This trade might not be the game-changer for the BUCKS that the media paints these blockbuster trades.
That being said, BUCKS just stayed on course, status quo ……. they’ll be among the top contenders, be it with Dame or Jrue.