Damian Lillard made his 9th All-Star appearance in 2025 in his 2nd season with the Milwaukee Bucks. However, it was a season worth forgetting, as he suffered a deep vein thrombosis mid-season and followed that with a torn Achilles in the playoffs.
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Just days ago, Lillard became a free agent when the Bucks decided to move on from him and sign Myles Turner.
NBA insider Chris Haynes attributed the Bucks’ stubbornness during Lillard’s injury rehab for the current situation. “Aaron Goodwin, Damian Lillard’s agent, about a month ago reached out to the Bucks and informed them that Dame would like to rehab back home in Portland and stay with his kids,“ he claimed.
“I was told that some people within the Bucks did not approve of that, and there was kind of some back-and-forth right there,“ Haynes further asserted, adding, “I think that (exchange) might’ve gotten the ball rolling, or at least put some ideas in the heads of the Milwaukee Bucks that led to this decision.“
Despite Haynes reporting that Lillard was blindsided by the Bucks’ decision to stretch his $113 million contract over 5 years, the veteran has asserted that their relationship hasn’t soured as much as people might think. On a social media post on Instagram, claiming the Bucks negatively responded to his Portland move idea, Lillard commented otherwise, “They did approve it, tho.”
Dame has also been sharing statistics of his partnership with Giannis Antetokounmpo, dispelling the misconception that their pairing had largely underachieved.
Dame letting the haters know
Him and Giannis were a special duo pic.twitter.com/EujTkImQ3y
— BucksShowYo (@BucksShowYo) July 3, 2025
Lillard has been quite active on social media, especially Instagram, and has also claimed to be happy about becoming a free agent for the first time in his career. Earlier this week, ESPN writer Marc J. Spears claimed Dame was planning to move away from the Bucks next summer anyway.
“This is a win-win. Dame had a player option for next summer that he was considering not exercising. No secret, living away from family in Milwaukee was a challenge. So he gets his $ and is now an unrestricted free agent free to go where HE wants.”
Dame has now essentially confirmed the reports by sharing a similar story on Instagram.
Dame on IG pic.twitter.com/C3GQcdaVw7
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) July 2, 2025
While Lillard’s time with the Bucks was bittersweet and plagued by multiple injuries, it wasn’t all bad for the future Hall of Famer. During his 21-month tenure with the team, he averaged 24.6 points and 7 assists. That’s not great, but for an aging player who gave it his all, it’s not bad either!
