The Milwaukee Bucks were far from Damian Lillard’s top destination when he demanded a trade away from the Portland Trail Blazers. The seven-time All-Star made it clear that he wanted to join the Miami Heat. Another team that was on his radar was the Brooklyn Nets. Obviously, neither of those moves materialized — much to the delight of Bucks fans everywhere.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Damian Lillard Had Eyes on Nets
As it turns out, Dame had a compelling reason as to why he wanted to join the Nets, in particular. Nate Jones, an agent for Lillard’s sports agency Goodwin Sports, recently spilled the beans on the 33-year-old’s motivation behind his desire to move to Brooklyn:
“Dame had them on his list because he wanted to play with Mikal who he has believed in from day 1…also believed in Ben Simmons bouncing back. Mikal isn’t on the team, that’s not a consideration,” Jones wrote in his tweet.
Lillard could have had more than a few reasons to join the Nets, but teaming up with Mikal Bridges is enough motivation for him. Can you blame him? Bridges is one of the fastest-rising young stars in the NBA, and he’s really blossomed in Brooklyn following his trade from the Phoenix Suns.
Dame is not the first player to want to play with Bridges, and he certainly won’t be the last.
Dame Will Have to ‘Settle’ For Giannis
It’s not as if Lillard is settling for scraps now that he’s with the Bucks. Far from that, actually. He may not have gotten his wish to team up with Bridges (or Jimmy Butler in Miami), but he will now get to form a superstar tandem with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
In the end, you could definitely say that it all worked out for Dame. After all, there’s no denying that he’s now in a much better position to win that elusive championship with the Bucks than he would have been in Brooklyn.
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