It’s the Dame Lillard trade reaction pod! It finally happened! Damian Lillard has been traded… to the Milwaukee Bucks!? We break it all down in the latest episode of Happy Hour Hoops!
The Trade
For Milwaukee
The Bucks win this trade. Simply put, they have two of the greatest players in NBA history on the floor together. Damian Lillard can unlock Giannis in a way he’s never been. That’s terrifying.
I already thought Giannis would be on a revenge tour this season, but now they might just be too good to even need revenge. Dame and Giannis are a basketball match made in heaven. You can’t give too much attention to Dame’s shooting, because Giannis will dominate the paint and vice versa. Good luck, NBA.
For Portland
Trading a legend sucks. There’s no way around it. But if you are going to do it, you do it the way Portland did. They didn’t rush or take a deal (from Miami) that they didn’t like. Training camps start in a few weeks and their front office knew that would be a natural time to revisit these conversations.
Grabbing DeAndre Ayton, Jrue Holiday and 3 first-round picks (2 pick swaps) is a win considering the packages we heard about during the year. Jrue Holiday will likely be flipped into more assets for a young team. Portland is built for a bright future, if they play their cards right.
For Phoenix
Trading a #1 pick is an admission of defeat, but can you blame PHX? Ayton never fit there and specifically never seemed to mesh with Devin Booker. The writing has been on the wall for a while.
PHX’s biggest issue coming into the season was their depth. They addressed that in this deal by adding 4 pieces who can contribute to their team as a role player on day 1. It’s not the kind of return you would imagine for a guy you thought would be a cornerstone, but with Durant, Beal and Booker together now, this move solidifies their supporting cast and answers a lot of the roster’s biggest questions.
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