So, if you are an NBA fan, you would know who Damian Lillard is by now. If you do not know, he is one of the best shooters in the league, and for the past couple of months, many big teams have been trying to acquire him. Today I will be telling you the story of what happened with Lillard during the offseason.
Damian Lillard was drafted by the Portland Trailblazers in the 2012 draft and has stayed with them for the last 11 years. All he wanted to do was win a championship, but was unable to do so, because he did not have a second superstar alongside him on the court. Because of this he requested a trade to a better, championship contending team, and there was a clear favorite who wanted him - the Miami Heat, which was also the preferred choice that he wanted to join. From the start of the offseason, the Heat have been trying to trade for Lillard, because their team lacked a real shooter, and he would be a perfect fit for them. They offered the Trailblazers a deal that was primarily built around sixth man of the year winner Tyler Herro and a couple of draft picks. Until a couple of days ago, everyone in the NBA community believed that this deal was going to go down, until the Milwaukee Bucks swooped in. They offered the Trailblazers the following: Superstar Milwaukee Bucks Point guard Jrue Holiday, who a couple of days later got traded to the Boston Celtics, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, a 2029 first round, a 2028 draft swap, and a 2030 draft swap. The Pheonix Suns were also involved in this trade, and they received Portland Trailblazers center Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, Keon Johnson, and Grayson Allen. This means that we will now probably see the deadliest duo in the NBA: Giannis Antetokounmpo and newly aquired Damian Lillard. It is quite easy to say that the Milwaukee Bucks now have the best bet of winning a Championship, which they last did in 2020-21, when they had a worse shooter than Damian Lillard.
Yesterday was also media day, so the reporter could ask Damian Lillard on how the experience with the Milwaukee Bucks has been so far. He said that the experience has been great, and he is very excited for the upcoming season, because he finally has that superstar alongside him, which is a great feeling. The reporter also brought back something Lillard had said a couple of years earlier, that when a superstar player of his caliber requests a trade, it can really affect and change a team, which is what will probably now happen with the Trailblazers.
So, that was everything about Damian Lillard and his trade over the summer, and I hope that this helped you in some kind of way!