This off-season saw a few of the most controversial NBA trades with Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks coming out on top. Nearly 55 days after the finalization of the move, the point guard opened up about how his trade rumors bothered him. He candidly reflected on the months leading up to his departure from the Portland Trail Blazers on the Knuckleheads podcast.
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Dame highlighted how his post-season journey kicked off wonderfully as he prioritized his off-court life. The 33-year-old stated, “I had a great summer. I spent a lot of time with my kids, with my family. I traveled, built the house, moved into it”. Lillard had confidence in securing a move away from Portland as he mentioned, “I just knew I was gonna be traded and I hate to just keep talking about it”.
Yet, the noise around the entire situation kept on rising with time, so much so that it became a source of concern for the 7x All-Star. The outsiders suspected him of negotiating with multiple entities as it unsettled Dame before the start of the pre-season. He highlighted, “I think the thing I was bothered by the most was probably just everybody saying, ‘I heard this and I heard that’ and I wasn’t talking to nobody”.
“This is the way this business goes, typically. So everybody was gonna side on like, ‘This is probably what’s happening’ or Dame probably said this to this person or said this to that,” Lillard continued. Thus, he took a stance against the noise as he “felt like the best route for me was to not address nothing and talk about none of this stuff”. Despite the rumors, the Blazers failed to reach a conclusion over his future.
Things became complicated as the training camp approached fast. At that stage, the 2013 ROTY even considered withdrawing his trade request as he mentioned, “I was like, ‘S**t, I will just come back whatever. I just wanna play'”. Eventually, there was no need for that as the Bucks swooped in to land Lillard with the latter feeling, “S**t I got traded to Miluawakee right before camp started”.
How did the Milwaukee Bucks secure the services of Damian Lillard?
The 2021 NBA champions had to let go of their championship-winning point guard, Jrue Holiday, to land Dame. In a remarkable three-way trade involving the Phoenix Suns, the Portland franchise received Holiday and Deandre Ayton. With Jrue’s displeasure in continuing in Oregon, the Boston Celtics later traded for the 6’4 guard.
Since then, the Celtics have turned themselves into a prime contender for the title this season. Currently, they are leading the Eastern Conference with 12-4, registering one of the best defenses in the league. Jrue seemed to have found his footing in the city of Boston as he had no hard feelings about the trade. “I’m in the best place that I can be to compete,” the 2x All-Star recently stated.
As for Dame, his partnership with Giannis Antetokounmpo started off a bit rough. With Lillard declaring, “We’re still learning each other,” their growth has been impeccable. The Bucks are third on the table with an 11-5 record on their side. Lillard’s time in Wisconsin has not particularly been a fairytale. Still, he has all the attributes to turn it into one with time.
