On Sept. 28, 2023, the Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers conducted a three-way trade that sent star point guard Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks. This was a very shocking trade that set the NBA world on fire.
Daminan Lillard was the 6th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft and has been nothing less than a superstar for the Portland Trail Blazers. He won the 2012 Rookie of the Year, made 7 all-star appearances and was even honored as a top 75 player of all time.
Despite his accomplishments, it is what he said off the court that has caused a lot of attention toward him in recent years. After losing to Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers in a regular season game in 2020, George took to X after Lillard’s comments to the press about Lillard beating George off of a game-winning three-pointer in a playoff game in 2019 that eliminated George from the playoffs.
In that post George stated that Lillard would inevitably be eliminated from the playoffs that year. Lillard infamously responded to George on X saying, “keep switching teams” and “running from the grind.” This suggested that George would rather just switch to a team that is already a title contender rather than trying to build a title contender with a less formidable team.
This tweet was looked back on with heavy criticism when Lillard requested a trade from Portland during this offseason on July 1, 2023. Lillard specifically requested a trade to the Miami Heat who had just reached the NBA Finals. Lillard, however, was not traded to Miami and was traded instead to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three way trade that sent Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton and Tourmani Camara formerly of the Milwaukee Bucks to the Blazers. The Suns were also involved in this trade receiving Grayson Allen, Keon Johnson, Nasir Little and Jusuf Nurkic.
Although the trade did not meet Lillard’s wishes it wasn’t necessarily a bad outcome. Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antentokunmpo is already one of the best players in the NBA and pairing him up with Damian Lillard no doubt makes Milwaukee a top contender in the Eastern Conference. Although Milwaukee lost Jrue Holiday in the trade who was a great defender for them, Lillard’s offensive ability should more than make up for the loss of perimeter defense.
Lillard may have “ran from the grind” and ultimately left the organization that most people believed he would stay loyal to, he should not be penalized for it at all given the circumstances. Throughout his entire career he has performed at a superstar level averaging 25.2 points, 6.7 assists and has a 37.2 career three-point percentage. He has also had many great scoring outbursts such as his 71 point performance in a game against the Houston Rockets last year.
Despite his great performances, the Trail Blazers front office has failed to support Lillard as the only All-Star he has ever played with was Lamarcus Aldridge before Lillard reached his prime. The farthest the Blazers have ever gotten with Lillard in the postseason was the Western Conference Finals where they were swept. Lillard’s chances of winning a career solidifying championship has never been better as it is now.
