Damian Lillard traded to the Bucks in a three team trade

[pwaldo]

Apparently the deal is this:

- Bucks get Damian Lillard
- Blazers get Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, 2029 first-round Bucks pick and Bucks pick swap
- Suns get Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, Keon Johnson, Grayson Allen

[WilyWestbrook0]

Not the original team he wanted (Miami), but surely he can't be too disappointed to play alongside Giannis.

[pwaldo]

Not the original team he wanted (Miami), but surely he can't be too disappointed to play alongside Giannis.

Yeah this is weird trade in that the Bucks better hope they win a championship here and this move should keep Giannis happy but more of if the Suns don't win a title and the Bucks do you will have to ask why they assisted in this deal? It seemingly does help the Suns a little bit but on paper the move makes the Bucks (who the Suns would be fighting against) much better.

Either way the pool of competing teams in the NBA basically shrinks to just the Bucks, Suns, Lakers, Warriors, Nuggets, Celtics, and Heat after this deal. And I'm being generous with a couple of these teams but won't count them out until they are totally done franchise wise but other than this group I really can't see somebody else winning a championship this season. I just can't come up with a scenario where the Wolves, 76ers, Grizzlies, Kings, or Thunder win something though they have a fraction of a chance while no team below them is going to do anything next year. Thunder I think are loaded with a ton of talent and trade assets but I don't think they have enough experience to knock off all the teams in the top tier category. And like I said that 7 team group I'm just giving the Heat (they seem to own the Bucks for some reason), Warriors, and Lakers a mention because of what they have done in the past at some point their run will fade out and they will be removed from having a shot much like what happened to the Clippers everyone raved about for years.

So basically another pointless NBA regular season until deep into the playoffs which gets us down to the same teams we already know are going to be there in the end. Yawn.