Nearly two months removed from the Milwaukee Bucks’ shocking decision to waive Damian Lillard, and it’s already backfired. The Bucks stretched and waived Lillard, which was surprising considering that they will have to pay him at least $20 million over the next five seasons.
Paying him to go away freed up the cap space to sign Myles Turner. That could help them to replace Brook Lopez but hurt them in the long run.Being handcuffed with having to pay Lillard’s salary plus Turner means they will essentially be paying nearly $50 million annually for Turner.
That’s a bonkers decision considering that they would essentially be paying the equivalent of a max contract to a merely good starting center. Not only that, but the Portland Trail Blazers are the huge beneficiary.
The Portland Trail Blazers made out like bandits thanks to the Bucks
The Blazers traded Lillard to the Bucks back in the summer of 2023 in exchange for Jrue Holiday and three pick swaps. Then, they traded Anthony Simons to the Boston Celtics to reacquire Holiday, followed by re-signing Lillard.
They now have two former All-Stars on their team for the cost of a second-round pick and cap space. The Blazers are clearly hoping to win now and hope that Holiday can help them in the immediate future and Lillard can help them in the near future.
Lillard is still recovering from a torn Achilles but was brought back to rehab his injury while also providing a veteran presence. He’s also back in Portland to mentor former third overall pick Scoot Henderson with the hope that he can help turn him into a star.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ waiving Damian Lillard will come back to bite them
Holiday was also required to do the same as well as help them on the court. Meanwhile, the Bucks will have neither Lillard nor Holiday and still have pressure to win now with Giannis Antetokounmpo. If they don’t, they could risk having him demand a trade ahead of the deadline.
That is a huge amount of pressure to place on next season for the Bucks. They’ll be without the assets they gave up for those players plus the cost of waiving Lillard and signing Turner while the Blazers are sitting pretty at their expense.
Only time will tell how poorly the Lillard debacle will hurt the Bucks, but it’s already obvious the Blazers have already gotten the best of the Bucks’ desperation moves.
All in all, the Bucks made a huge gamble by waiving Lillard, while the Blazers are the clear beneficiaries.
