Damian Lillard finally is getting traded out of Portland, but he will not be joining the Miami Heat.
Instead, Lillard has been dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team deal that also involves the Phoenix Suns, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported Wednesday, citing sources.
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Here is what each team involved in the trade is getting, per Wojnarowski:
- Bucks: Damian Lillard
- Trail Blazers: Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, 2029 Bucks first-round pick (unprotected) and first-round swap rights with Bucks in 2028 and 2030 (unprotected)
- Suns: Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson
The deal ends nearly three months of speculation after Lillard initially requested a trade from the rebuilding Blazers.
While the Heat were the rumored frontrunner to land Lillard, he now ends up with another Eastern Conference contender, joining two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and All-Star Khris Middleton to form a dynamic trio.
Golden State Warriors
With Lillard leaving Portland after 11 seasons, that leaves the Warriors' core of Steph Curry (entering 15th season), Klay Thompson (entering 13th season) and Draymond Green (entering 12th season) as the three longest-tenured NBA players.
As for the Suns, they move on from Ayton, the 2018 No. 1 overall draft pick and bring in Nurkic, a veteran big man who fits their win-now mindset. Phoenix also added solid depth pieces in Allen and Little.
Ayton joins the Blazers' rebuild, which is centered around 2023 No. 2 overall draft pick Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons. Portland also could try to flip Holiday for more future assets or young players to put around Henderson, Simons and Ayton.
Around the time Lillard requested a trade from the Blazers, the Warriors swung the Chris Paul-Jordan Poole deal. ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported that if Golden State had waited, they might have been able to acquire the Oakland native instead of CP3.
“[The Warriors] had another choice. They could have waited for Dame,” Shelburne told 95.7 The Game’s Mark Willard and Dan Dibley on Wednesday. “Dame is from the Bay Area. I know he was interested.
“If he got to the point where he was going to ask for a trade and the list was given [to the organization], the Warriors initially would have been on that list. But now it’s not possible because of the move they made [trading for Chris Paul].”
But in mid-September, Lillard made it clear he would never join the Warriors.
"I respect what they've been doing over the last eight, nine years or whatever, and I'm from there obviously. That's home. But I can't go be a part of that," Lillard said on a recent "It Is What It Is" episode. "They won four championships. What I look like going to try to do that?
"There's somebody that plays my position that's, behind LeBron [James], the best player of this era. So it don't even make sense. I'd never do nothing like that. I'd lose every year before I go."
Dame Time now will try to win in Milwaukee and if the cards fall right, there's a chance he could face the Warriors in the 2024 NBA Finals.