A little over a year ago, the Milwaukee Bucks made one of the biggest moves in franchise history by acquiring Damian Lillard in a three-team trade. Lillard played with the Portland Trail Blazers for his entire NBA career before being traded to Milwaukee.
Despite putting up very good stats a season ago with the Bucks, he missed a couple of games in the Indiana Pacers series with an injury. Milwaukee has not gotten past the first round of the NBA Playoffs for the last two seasons.
Milwaukee Bucks Point Guard Damian Lillard Makes Shocking Announcement Ahead Of the 2024-2025 NBA Season
Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke to Eric Nehm of The Athletic during media day on Monday. Lillard understands that it will be important for him and Antetokounmpo to be on the same page this season and communicate well. Damian Lillard said to Eric Nehm:
“I think subconsciously, we are who we are because of how stubborn we are and how much we believe in what we believe. And I’ve never played with a player of his level. He’s never played with a point guard like me. So I think it just took time for it to get to this point where I’m going to say what I need to say to you and it doesn’t have to be negative or like I’m coming at you, but I can say it, know that you’re going to take it as what I think the best thing is and vice versa. And I think we’ve had plenty of conversations about stuff like that, but I think once it got later in the season, we started to have more and more. And then, at one point in the playoffs, I think it was maybe Game 4 in Indiana, we both missed that game. Everybody went out to warm up, and me and him were the only two people in the locker room. And I just told him, ‘I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but me and you gotta get connected. We gotta get something done.’ And he agreed. And once he agreed, the conversation went a whole different way after that. It became a much more open conversation. From there, it just went into the summer and communication. And I think that’s more important than us getting on the court, working out together and all that stuff.”
It will be interesting to see how the relationship between Lillard and Antetokounmpo during their second season with the Bucks together. They both finished in the NBA a season ago in the Top 15 in scoring. Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounnmpo will both need to be healthy to make a deep playoff run.
Portland Trail Blazers Are Rebuilding
Lillard playing with the Bucks and Antetokounmpo is currently a much better situation for him than being with the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland is currently rebuilding and they will be near the bottom of the NBA Standings this season. As for the Milwaukee Bucks, they have a chance to be a contender as long as they can fix some things during the 2024-2025 NBA season.
Damian Lillard will need to play better on the defensive end of the floor. Giannis Antetokounmpo has been already criticized for the team letting go of Jrue Holiday before last season. Lillard and Antetokounmpo need to make sacrifices for each other if they want to make a deep run this postseason.
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