The Milwaukee Bucks recently traded for seven-time All-Star Damian Lillard. It was a surprise to many in the NBA world as Lillard had made it known, publicly, that the only team he wanted to be traded to was the Miami Heat. So vocal were his feelings on the matter that the NBA had to get involved and tell his agent to back down on the messages to other teams not to attempt a trade.
Related: Miami Heat Star Jimmy Buter Accuses Milwaukee Bucks of Tampering in Wake of Damian Lillard Trade
When the Bucks sent Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen, a 2029 first round pick, and two pick swaps out to attain Lillard, there was a question in the national media over whether or not Lillard would be happy about his new team.
On Monday, Lillard and the rest of the Bucks met with the media as part of their schedule Media Day. Lillard met with reporters who asked him about his reaction to the trade and his feelings regarding co-existing with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Damian Lillard Describes His Reaction to Being Traded to the Milwaukee Bucks
During his media availability on Monday, Lillard laid out the timeline of when he knew the Bucks were involved in trade talks and his thoughts on the deal up until it was made.
On finding out Milwaukee was in play:
“It was something that came up two weeks ago. And I was interested in that.”
On when the deal went down:
“Am I really getting traded?” “And then I started to think about the team. Who did I get traded for? And I looked it up and then I saw what type of team I was coming to and that’s when the excitement kicked in.”
Lillard mentioned that in his previous visits to Milwaukee, he always stayed in his hotel because it was always so snowy and/or cold. However, the sun has not stopped shining in Milwaukee since he arrived and Monday saw the temperature reach 80. Lillard said,
“Seeing the sun out and being by the water and stuff like that, it made me smile a little bit. This might be all right.”
In other words, Lillard is happy that he has been traded to Milwaukee. He is certainly finding out that it truly is one of the NBA’s hidden gems.
On playing with Giannis:
“Giannis, the kind of attention that he’s going to get is only going to make the game easier for me.”
The pick-n-roll that the Bucks will be able to run with their two NBA 75th Anniversary Team players is going to be a real difficult play to defend. And even if teams do stop it once in a while, there will be Khris Middleton and/or Brook Lopez to deal with.
Bucks fans are in for a fun year.
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