The Bucks are waiving injured point guard Damian Lillard and stretching the $112.6MM owed to him over the next two years across five seasons, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
The move will help create the cap room necessary in order for the Bucks to complete their four-year, $107MM deal with free agent center Myles Turner.
It’s a shocking development, but Milwaukee was expected to aggressive this offseason in its efforts to upgrade the roster and convince superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo that he can still contend for a championship with the Bucks. And Lillard, who sustained a torn Achilles during the first round of the playoffs this spring, wasn’t going to be able to contribute to a title chase in 2025/26, as he’ll almost certainly miss most or all of the season.
As we explain in our glossary entry, the stretch provision allows teams to spread out a player’s remaining guaranteed salary across twice the remaining years left on his contract, plus one. That means the Bucks will now carry cap hits of $22,516,603 for the next five seasons for Lillard, instead of paying him $54,126,450 in 2025/26 and $58,456,566 in ’26/27.
The move creates more than $30MM in extra spending flexibility for Milwaukee this season.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), teams aren’t permitted to waive and stretch a player if the move would result in waived-and-stretched salary taking up more than 15% of a season’s cap. But 15% of this season’s cap works out to about $23.2MM, so Lillard’s figure sneaks in below that threshold.
This is the largest waive-and-stretch in NBA history, Marks adds (via Twitter).
A team that waives a player and stretches his salary isn’t permitted to sign him until after the original end date of his contract, so the Bucks wouldn’t be able to bring back Lillard this season or next season once he’s healthy.
Lillard, who will turn 35 this month, averaged 24.9 points, 7.1 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game in 58 starts for the Bucks this season, posting a shooting line of .448/.376/.921. He missed time near the end of the season after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his calf. Although the star guard was able to return during the playoffs, he suited up in just three games before tearing his Achilles.
Wow!
Aside from the injury, Dame just isnt good anymore… no defense, injury prone, and so many turnovers…
So many big.? a 7 to 3 assist to turnover rate is pay good. he still was a good scorer. not sure what you’re talking about. But this makes sense. He only had 2 years remaining and he wasn’t going to contribute this upcoming season.
My first thought as well. Wow
Wow!
Maybe all those rumormongers about Giannis leaving Milwaukee will finally go silent. The Bucks mean business about being a top contender.
Yup, overpaying myles turner means business…😆
Barely moves the needle and now they’re paying 24 million in dead money over the next 5 years
They were going to have $54 million in dead money this year if they kept him.
Are the bucks still better than they were before? I say no even after Myles turner
They should have used that remaining money on some type of star power, like dame or Middleton or holiday
This does mean though that Giannis can’t leave the bucks because they are committed to him
Why can’t he?
I mean Turner is probably better than Lopez at this point in their careers, but thats more of a lateral move and they are basically last years team minus Dame still.
I mean Im guessing its another first round exit unless they can bring in another player with some scoring chops.
Unless Kuzma replaces lillard’s production then the team is as good as it was before
But if kuzma still plays bad and Giannis doesn’t have a 2nd scoring option then the team is a lot worse than before
Kuzma has never been good. He’s not suddenly gonna learn how to shoot. Best case scenario we unload Kuzma.
Its KPJ who has to replace Dame – and he’s pretty good at putting up counting stats. Was much better with MIL than LAC this year.
For what the 8th seed …. No Dame and East is deeper.
Not that Dame would’ve played much this year, if at all, but who is playing point? Porter? GTFO
Yep, def Porter.
Damn
Bucks wasted their assets on Dame, lol
Maybe sign with the Warriors next year and retire playing for your favorite team
Depends if the warriors are still going strong next year. He wants a championship and not be another Karl Malone without any championships.
Dame is Oakland, not SF. Maybe in another timeline where they never moved back.
Couldn’t he live in Oakland and play in SF? I don’t know the traffic situation or if he’s willing to ride the BART, but seems plausible from afar.
Oakland people don’t view SF = Oakland, like you do. Which is fine, you need to have street-level knowledge of Oakland and actually be there to get it.
Still the same problem of you cant start a back court of Steph and Dame unless its just for funsies and you arent serious about competing. I always wanted Dame to return to Oak Town but it just has never worked with Steph.
Luke, any thoughts on this quick back-of-the-napkin guess on how MIL creates the room?
– stretch Lillard + Connaughton
– Trent and Porter Jr fit into Room Exc
– Portis opts in then extends to 44/3 w/ 5% raises to remain trade-eligible
– renounce all other holds, waive Livingston
= ~$25mm cap room, starting lowest salary for a 4y*/$107mm contract
Trent Pj and Portis are all signing to their allowed bird rights so you can stretch Lillard and sign them after the Turner signing since the cap holds on all 3 are lower than their new salaries. like 2.2M for Pj/Trent. You can then go over the cap to re sign all 3 once the Turner deal is done. They will also have the room exception and BAE once the transactions are done.
Not a big deal, but you’ve got about three fairly large well-known CBA conflicts in that statement. But I was incorrect in one sense — they can’t stretch Lillard AND Connaughton.
What conflicts?
Trent Pj are on min deals with 2.2M cap holds and early bird rights allowing for 120% raises. They are both signing 2 year deals at the maximum allowed. Spotrac doesnt have one for Portis but I assume it is his salary from this last season.
Once you use the cap room on Turner you then sign the extensions with all 3 of the others since your allowed to go over to sign your own players, but they will cost more than the cap holds. None of these deals can get done till the 6th and the team can choose the sequence they complete them in.
After all that is done your still way below the apron and have the room exception and BAE available.
What am I wrong about?
Cap holds take up cap space. They’ll renounce holds for Porter Jr and Trent to clear room for Turner, then re-sign them both with Room Exception. A team can’t have both BAE and Room Exception, BAE is only available to above-the-cap midlevel teams. (Porter was announced as BAE but that was before Turner news, he’ll slide into Room Exception.) Portis will either opt in and extend or sign his new deal before Turner signs — Portis’ cap hold is 190% of his previous salary, waayyy more than his new salary or player option and would eat up take away much space from Turner. Capiche?
Oh yeah and Porter Jr and Trent only have Non-Bird rights.
Yeah 120% like I said. Just mistyped the one. it would be the avg NBA salary over 12M after another year
The cap holds are lower than the new deals. You cant pay Trent the amount they are if they waive him without burning another exception. Nowhere on the reporting of either the waiving Dame, or the Turner signing does it mention either being waived.
The room exception is for teams that use cap room and they dont get an MLE. The BAE can be used by any team below the first apron where it hard caps you, that didnt use it in the previous year. You can use both the room and BAE, but neither is as much as the full MLE or can be more than 2 seasons.
Portis doesnt matter much since his new salary is right around the option amount.
Close, but not there yet. Keep brushing up on the CBA, it’s complicated!
That’s 5 years of 20 million of dead money on the cap every year. Crippling
Would you say the Jrue for Dame deal didnt work out…? 🤣
Wow. Welcome to the New CBA
I did an audible gasp reading this. This and the Luka trade are two of the most shocking transactions I’ve witnessed
I mean it wasn’t expected that the bucks would simply release him but we did think that lillard could have been traded to a team like the suns
Nothing is as shocking and out of the blue as the Luka trade
This makes sense, the Luka trade still does not.
Rob, sign him to the Vet min right now. He can play for the Lakers during the playoff run. I hope the new owner gets involved.
Just what the Lakers need. Another ball dominant player who doesn’t play defense.
Might as well bring Westbrook back as well.
He isnt doing any of that as Lillard is out for the entire season, what is the point of getting him now?
“sign him to the Vet min right now.” you know he is out for the entire 2025-26 season, right?
Suns fans feeling a little less lonely about the Durant experiment. Beal gonna get Lillarded in a minute here.
The Suns don’t need the immediate cap room. No sense burdening their future with dead money.
so now everyone involved in that lillard deal wishes he went to miami huh lol.. wow. Since he said thats where he wants to be.. maybe the heat sign him to a minimum deal to rehab him this year with plans to sign a real contract in 2026
I love the audacity of the move bc the Bucks recognize Lillard as a sunk investment…
What I don’t understand is why did they create a significant handicap over 5 years instead of two? I think the Bucks should have just taken their medicine now because the shift to Turner doesn’t help them on the perimeter.
they had a meeting with Giannis 2 weeks ago…. they are DESPERATE. If I’m Giannis this bothers me.. a lot. They just made it impossible to compete for the next 5 years IMO
There’s already reports of this. It clogs up cap space and he likes Dame despite it not being a seamless fit stylistically.
Because a simple waive wouldn’t erase their cap sheet. He would still be on their cap for the 54MM for the 2 seasons and doesn’t allow them to create cap space to sign Turner for example.
They also dont have enough assets to pay someone else to eat the money
Yes, but it’s the “For Turner” part of this that didn’t make much sense to me. Perhaps there was nothing better available. The question would be what’s the difference between Turner and Lopez. And what the ability difference between Turner and their next option. It’s a hefty premium.
I mean after Bron opted in and others extended Turner was probably the best available FA.
On top of that Lopez signed in LA so they really needed a starting C
If anyone had this on their bingo card stand up and take a bow (also, go play the lotto asap).
I thought they might do this… but I also thought they could have sent whatever remaining picks they had to the Nets and brought back like Paul George or some other semi washed star through the Nets.
And then the Nets proceeded take 5 guys in a so so draft class.
Who is running point here? Dinwiddie? Brogdon? Russ? Fultz? Benjalina?
I would say a Brogdon return should go to the front of that line.
Does anyone know how Dame signing somewhere else affects their salary cap? I’m pretty sure a percentage of it would reduce the salary cap hit, but they still owe him the money. Not that that would be much, but it’s something.
if he signs somewhere in 2025 it would be for the minimum.. he’s not playing
I’m aware, I’m talking about the ramifications of such signing as cap relief for the Bucks. Let’s say he signs late in the year for a playoff team making like 1.5 mil, what cap relief do the Bucks get?
that won’t happen but I’m not sure
Nope thats in baseball. In baseball if you waive a player and they sign with a new team the portion of the salary they sign for is reduced from the previous team. It usually is only a league min amount though. At this point nothing will reduce it. You cant even trade the salary burden now that he has been stretched. Its just dead money on the books for the next 5 years at 22M each.
Does another team signing him just have to pay him the vet minimum? If so there should be 29 teams calling him right now to offer him two years
You can offer anyone the minimum hypothetically.
He can sign for any amount. I kinda doubt he signs with a new team in the short term, although he may want to work with a teams medical staff and facilities on his rehab, but Dame can afford all that on his own anyways.
Also, there’s reports this didn’t make Giannis happy. Imagine signing Turner and stretching Dame only for Giannis to request out. Good move seemingly not checking in with your generational superstar.
Maybe they know Giannis is gone and Turner is his replacement?
If Gianni’s opts out, they get the return they need to rebuild on a 5 year plan. I’m curious if they could have a clause to pay him off sooner if Giannis gets a trade. I’ve actually not heard of this tactic until now. Deferring salary, past the date if the original contract, to waive a player.
Lillard is going to be very OK, he just became a total FA now. He can pick and choose any team he wants to play for, after he rehabs, he can sit down and look at the best team who has a chance to win the title and then if the team agrees sign him to a veteran minimum contract. Milwaukee has to wear the Lillard contract now for five years that is at least 20 to 25 mil hit a year on their salary cap.
He’s not playing in the NBA again as a starter. He is going to be 36 coming off a leg injury that destroys a players speed. He probably will get a “look see” deal from the Knicks or Nets, but he’s done done. Cooked.
That injury was devastating for Dame. Yes he still is paid, but the year off and aging is going to diminish his game significantly. I’m for taking the cap hit for two years and getting it over with. Giannis is a merch machine so keeping him happy is imperative. I understand bringing in Turner, signing GTJR is going to be good. He’s not a point guard though, even though he can play there a few minutes a game.
@Shawnpe – you know ball, great post
I know they waived him because of the injury but Dame was always overrated.
This is an absolute game changer for the league if he chooses to chase a ring. Dame on a vet minimum even at this stage of his career is an impact player that can raise the floor and ceiling of your team.
36 year old dame coming back from an exploded leg injury isn’t impacting anything, you are wrong.
Tore his achilles in the playoffs with a 1 year rehab time at least, so probably not for this year. You dont risk re injury trying to bring a guy back into high intensity/physicality playoff games after a year down with a major injury.
I don’t know if he will be a game changer at that point. Prior to the injury, he was already a huge liability on D – by the time he comes back he’ll be 36, recovering from an achilles tear, and a year and a half removed from playing any real basketball.
He’ll be able to put up a few 3’s, but that offensive profile will have changed dramatically, and he’ll give everything back on D. This very much has John Wall/out of the league soon vibes to it.
I never liked the Dame acquisition. Terrible money spent.
That said, now, he will be a happy camper to sign where he wants. I wish him well.
Turner has hurt Milwaukee playing against them. I hope he’s as good playing for them.
That said. Watching the Bucks financial moves is like watching the USA navigate the fiscal cliff🤦🏼♂️. They just keep making the fall that much more devastating when it happens. But they will be formidable with size, strength, defense and range, in the front court this coming season. But an empty $20-$25 mill will hurt those last three years of the Lillard deal.
Darn darn darn. You’re gonna stay now….right, GA?
Dame will play in 26`- 27. His D is really bad.
How are you not able to at least able to dump him to Phoenix for Beal or to the wizards for Middleton back?
I wonder if before pulling the trigger on this they have the guts to ask the Blazers for Jrue to do the trade all the way back around. That would have been funny to say the least
No trade lands them the cap room to make a deal so this is the only way it works where they can sign Turner to the already announced contract. The only way would be Dame to a team and a good chunk of the salary matching rerouted to BRK. They are burning up their cap space in a hurry though with Mann and MPJ already.
Cant sign Turner if you take back equal to Dames money, and Turner is better than Beal. On top of that they have some guards and no C after losing Brook
because he’s a 110 million dead contract? Why would any team trade for a player making 55 mill this year, but won’t play? Are you sober? lol… that’s telling your players, your fans, and your city this season is over 3 months before it starts.
PHX would do it because unlike Beal he doesnt have a NTC so they could attach assets to get off the money. Because Dame playing 1 of 2 years on the max is still a less underwater asset than Beal.
Phoenix just spent a season watching Beal be an absolute statue on the court, while their team played terribly. Why would they want to bring in a guy who is basically the same thing? Dame is old and will be mostly cooked by the time he comes back.
Phoenix needs to get younger – you’re basically proposing they get older.
Who do they now sign at PG though?
I don’t think they do this without speaking to #34. They are trying to do things to please #34 so he doesn’t leave. However, that is what has them in this situation (no cap space or draft capital). Someone has to be looking at what’s best for the team because they can mortgage the team and #34 still asks to be traded.
Not even two full calendar years have passed since the big Lillard-Jrue Holiday-Ayton trade, which took place in September 2023 between the Bucks, the Blazers and the Suns. Now
– Lillard is being waived by the Bucks,
– Ayton has been waived by the Blazers,
– while Holiday is being traded back to the Blazers.
Not exactly a kind of turnaround anyone would have expected
You know the real clowns always clown themselves.
Dame was born July 15, 1990 which makes him 35 this month. Do you actually watch the NBA at all. Cause the production of players over 34 has gone up dramatically the last 15 yrs or so. Just look at Jimmy who does a bit of everything not just scoring. Time to catch up lols. A player takes care of themselves today. And treats their body like the miracle it is. They can play productively till 40. And become billionaires while doing it. Thats the motivation today. And yes winning makes all this easier and possible ……
Dame just needs to heal. There will be plenty of teams who will want him for a playoff run. He’s already been paid for this year. So he can go where he wants and worry about a contract later. Why don’t you just sit back and enjoy the ride. Dame will play for a contender come playoff time. Going home would be great. Unfortunately Warriors aren’t the best fit for him. That could change by playoffs. Dame time is coming, believe that.
This is big yikes