Paul George Gets Real on Damian Lillard’s Treatment by Bucks & Predicts His Next Team

Paul George Gets Real on Damian Lillard’s Treatment by Bucks & Predicts His Next Team

Recently, again, we saw Damen Lillard was stretched waved after tearing his Achilles in the playoffs. The move, you know, caught everyone offguard, including him, I’m sure, but it’s another reminder just of how ruthless the business of basketball can be. And I think Melo uh tweeted something. I’m not sure what the tweet exactly was, but I think it was that the NBA owners that there’s just no loyalty in the NBA from the ownership side. and just want to get both of your thoughts on, you know, Dame’s situation and what does the future look like for Dame moving forward after this? I think he’s in cuz you can look at it two ways, right? You can look at it from and I always go back to owners being smart now with this new CBA and the aprons involved, right? I keep dating back to this apron because when you see them shedding moves and shedding players around, it’s cuz they’re trying to not eat up these salaries. Mhm. And you got a team that no longer, in my eyes, I think are contending when you lose someone like Dame. Um, and so I’m I’m not sure what’s going to happen. We had conversations actually the other day in the gym of like, damn, do Giannis ask for a trade or like what’s the situation going on there? Um, so in one way it’s like, “All right, Dame, we’re shedding this money. We’re going to pay your money, but then you get a chance to go and play somewhere and compete for a championship, right? We maybe think the window here is closed.” Mhm. You get healthy, you get a chance to go pick where you want to play, but then there’s the side of, you know what I mean? We still believe in you here. We got Giannis, we got a culture, we lost Brooke, but we got a young Brooke and Miles Turner locked in. Um, we can still win here. So, like I I I think of both ways. I always play devil advocate situations. So, So, when you first heard it, when y’all first heard it, what y’all think immediate first thought? I was like, they doing they only getting rid of him because it’s Achilles. That’s all I That’s all I was saying. And I was hot about it. I thought it was a a little crazy, but again, he’s older. He’s getting injured. Clearly, they’re trying to move on as quickly as possible. They’re trying to cut that rip the band-aid off as soon as possible and move on. That’s what I thought. So, so, and I’m going ask you this question, too. Do you think Giannis had anything to do with it? Well, I I glad you brought that up because I believe bringing in Miles Turner, they it was part of that deal and then a report came out that Giannis was aware of the Miles Turner trade, which therefore would mean that he was aware that Dame was up out of here. So, I think he did know. See, that is interesting. See, think about it. Because here’s the thing about when when you’re a Giannis, a LeBron in that situation that kind of controls your franchise Steph. A non-answer is as bad as an answer. So if you like the coach is like if they management comes to you and says, “What do you think about coach or we we’re going to do this or we may fire him?” And and your start player is like, “Well, you know, you got to do what you got to do as as organization.” So he’s not saying he he’s not saying no that you got to fire him that you don’t have to fire him or but he’s not saying yes I advocate for him so you in that so a lot of times and I’m going to get to your point about loyalty a lot of times it’s like a player being in a situation look I didn’t know I didn’t say anything I didn’t you know I’m upset but did you really advocate advocate to have this person stay or did you just kind of let or the organization when They asked you the question, do what they had to do. And you can’t play that in between. Okay. Now, loyalty ain’t never been no loyalty in the league. So, stop it. Mhm. Never has been, never will be because the bottom line is the bottom line in NBA and professional sports. Now, there are outliers. Look what the Lakers did with Kobe the back end of his career. They paid him. Okay, they paid him. Jeannie Bus took care of him. You always going to have an outlier in there. Did you think it was a point where we know who Mr. Miami was is DW? What happened there? He had to leave to come back. Allonzo had to leave to come back. Okay. Time and time again, you’re going to see this because I came into this league, bro. Fourth pick in the league. It was a market value. You didn’t have a rookie salary cap. Shaq was one, then Lonzo was two, then Christian Lner was three. Guess what? I was four. Mavericks didn’t want to pay me. didn’t want to pay me because their draft picks two years before didn’t pan out. I mean, what they got to do with me, right? So, I got the longest hold out ever in the league. Only played 28 games my rookie year. They took all my rookie year, but I wasn’t going to give in. I said, because if you don’t want to pay me, just trade me. Mhm. Or I’m going back to school. So, I learned the business of basketball early. I got criticized for it. I got ostracized for like, hoes, this rookie coming in here demanding. And I said, “I ain’t demanding nothing.” I said, “My window of earning money is this and I’m the fourth pick. I damn sure ain’t taking what the eighth pick got, which they wanted to offer me.” So I said, “If you don’t want to pay me, I’m not coming.” So that taught me the business of basketball early on and I’ve seen it through organizations that I’ve played at and played with where they’ll tell you one thing. Okay? They’ll tell you and say one thing, but at the end of the day, it’s the bottom line and organization got to do what they got to do. The one time I would say this, when I was in Miami, right, Pat Riley is the man. I was a free agent and went there and played the next year. I was a free agent and he said, he called me, I was living in Dallas. He called me said, “Jimmy, we got to make a move. I think you should be starting, but I got these two rookies we just drafted. I got to see if they can play.” Well, one of them was DW, duh. You know what I’m saying? But he called me and told me, “Yeah, there was a relation relationship.” You see what I’m saying? He said, “Jimmy, if you don’t find a spot you want to go, you always can come back to Miami and play, but I want you to be able to do it, but I got to play these guys.” So, it’s always outliers. But, and as far as Dame, think about it. If I’m Dame, I’m like, where can I go that really? I can I do a uh a two with a one year op I mean the second year as an option option year rehab close I love to see him in Minnesota actually but I don’t know if he still want to be that far away from home rehabing but I think Dame would be fine but he’s going to be on the back end but he got to understand too when he comes back he got a different role to play too wherever he goes. What squad do you think would like to take Dame with, you know, with the situation that he has where you think he’ll look good at? Anywhere, bro. Like, you know, but put him with put him with Houston. I like that. That’s real nice. Does he play backup to Fred or does he cuz you think about he’s he’s out a year. He comes back with with Van Ble. I mean, little friend. No, no, depending on how he looks, right? Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, I think that’s a conversation, but you put him on that team where there is a a a KD, there is I think there’s defense around him, there’s length around him, and you know, it’s just from a I always like, you know, if if it’s a smaller guard, pair him with bigger guy, length around him. Uh so him being on that team, you know, you got a passing big in uh Singuan, you got KD although shooter, you got uh the Thompson twin as one of the best defenders in the game. Jabari Smith length, you know, spreads the floor like that. And and there’s enough youth around him that he doesn’t have to carry load like that. You got Fred that can come off the bench or you can play him in tandem, however you want to do that. But I I like him in in Houston. And I think that’s a great fit for him in Houston. How do you It is interesting too because he’s a little bit older now coming off Achilles. We know based on KD that you can come back and really really be effective especially cuz KD didn’t rely on athleticism to kind of and Dame doesn’t either. He can just shoot it. But the mindset too. I hurt my I tore my ankle up. Now when I tore mine up it was 800 years ago. So we didn’t have the technology. when you got your injury and you had to rehab. How long did it take you ment with with Dame? I think wherever he goes, if he does a two-year deal, at least he’s in the building with those guys. He may not be on the floor, but if he does a two-year deal with a team, at least he’s coordinated within that organization for a year. Mhm. How long did it take you like mentally once you knew you were healthy to kind of get cuz that’s the question Dame is going to have, you know, that’s going to be asked with Dame. Yep. So the the the crazy thing about when the injury when I had that injury. So I I came back and this was you know compound fracture both the tib and fib snapped broke skin all of that happened in August right I came back and played April but I was practicing in like early February. Yeah. And I was limping and hobbling around in in April, but I was practicing with the team. Like I wasn’t, you know, I wasn’t a full-on hour and a half, but there was some live segments just to give me confidence that I could play through it. And a lot of it was for the the rehab part of it of, you know, that leg getting um, you know, some some type of force going through it and and learning how to cut and jump and react. So I to be honest as and and I I thought I looked bad to finish that season out, but it gave me confidence going into that summer that like all right, if I got NBA games under my belt, I can attack this summer, you know, 100%. So all in all, I think it was a good year turnaround for me to be completely, you know, and and mine is different, right? Like dame is, you know, that’s a that’s a tendon, right? That’s a, you know, that’s a different type of, you know, if I step this way, mine is like if something hit it, am I going to be good? His is if I take a step, is it going to snap? Is it going to, you know, if I jump? You know, can I be explosive? So my my process was a little different. I don’t know how you kind of can cope or get on the floor and kind of tune tune that out as far as you know just playing basketball because it happens from a non-basket or a non-cont you know uh injury. So yeah, I don’t know how you get over that one. I ain’t going to lie cuz it took me a year but that was that was for me that year it was if I get hit or something hit it there’s a potential chance for it to snap. Well, I was just saying but it but you were around the team you were in the facility. You were all that. So Dame, wherever he goes, you know, they got to look at it. Like I know Rob Dillingham is young rookie that’s up there in Minnesota. He got to be able to have some runway next year to see if he can really beat his first round pick. If he can be their future, but it’s some teams I think strategically out there that with Dame, does he go back to Portland and finish it? Mhm. because now he’s back home, family there, rehabbing, come back, swan story, finish a career there. You know, I know it affects Scoo Henderson, but you know, I think it’s some avenues for Dame. And think about it, he getting it now, it’s offset with his contract. Y, you know, he get his money over five years, but whatever kind of deal he signed, it ain’t like he getting 22 plus the new deal, right? It’s an offset of salaries within there. I was going to ask that, too. Yeah. It’s like coaches. It’s an offset. So if he get 10 from the new team, then the Bucks only on 12. Yeah. Not the whole 22, right? 225. You see what I’m saying? Yeah. That’s why it makes a ton of flexibility there. But that’s a bold move that that’s the f that’s the longest stretch wave and stretch that we’ve seen. But that just tells the mindset of an organization and what they think. Mhm. Okay. Seriously, because they thought it was how many people Come on. you when you said Dame going to Milwaukee, first thoughts was what? I was loving that. Oh, I was loving it cuz he was going to play with Yiannis. I was loving it, but I didn’t see P and you were there cuz I always thought he needed help, but I didn’t see any real coordination between them in the twoman game, offside, pin downs between the two, movement. It was either Giannis had it or Dame had it. M and how do you really exploit that and utilize that if you don’t use them the right way to really force the defense in these precarious situations where you got to guard both of them at the same time. And I think that was a big flaw in why a lot of the success with Milwaukee was fleeting cuz I don’t think those two really offensively I’m a Drew Holiday loyalist so I thought I thought it was they they wanted offense. You think you think Giannis wanted something to do with that? I I don’t think so. I don’t think so after man. But Yiannis he said he was upset. Yeah, he knew about it. He wanted game. I’m just saying. Well, man, you can still be upset and like said it depends on that conversation. If he knew, maybe he did go to bat for Drew, but at the end of the day, it’s not his call. I mean, as much as you want to say Giannis runs the organization, those owners are going to do what they want to do. They might come ask you for your opinion, but that doesn’t mean they’re gonna roll with you. Like, no. It It depends. It depends, bro. It It really It really says, especially in a small market. In a small market, because you’re not going to get free agents. And I’m not saying that Giannis did it. I’m not saying that. But I think in that playoff series when they lost and they couldn’t find offense, that was a big reason why Drew ended up being traded. But you you go you you going to your star player whether you want to make the decision or not and he going to have to voice an opinion one way or another. LeBron was out too. Getting the key to not I can’t play. He posted like a meme uh that on the report that Giannis knew that in the Miles Turner trade and he posted I think it was uh was that Nacho Libre? Yeah, you got to pull that up. They’re talking about how Miles Turner Giannis knew and then Dame posted this. Oh, okay. I love it, man. All right. Okay. Looks like he’s taking it with the He’s having fun for him. He probably like, listen, I’m getting paid. I’m rehabbing anyway. to go where I want to go. Make another album. I’m good. I’m not losing no money. Yeah. Yeah. He’s in the driver’s seat. In the driver seat. He’s in the driver’s seat. Good. [Music]

Paul George & Jim Jackson get real on how the Bucks front office handled the release of Damian Lillard. The guys then share what’s next for Giannis & where they think Dame will play after suffering a tough injury in Milwaukee.
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