Should the Trail Blazers Re-sign Damian Lillard?

Should the Trail Blazers Re-sign Damian Lillard?

Was Dame done wrong here?
No. No. Um, for for a couple reasons. Number one, I think number one, I got to go to Mark Spear’s tweet, which I think clarifies better than anything. He said that this is a win-win. Don’t feel sad for Dane. Before his injury, he was seriously contemplating declining that option, that 54 plus million dollar option on the second year of his deal. That’s that’s how miserable he was in Milwaukee. So now he gets the he gets an immediate exit and all his money. He he didn’t I mean I guess there is and and and Vinnie, I’m I’m curious if you’ve noticed the same thing this year. Maybe it’s been happening a couple years, but this year I noticed it more than anything. No one’s getting waved. Everyone is getting uh released to find a better and a big time talent has hit the market and everything is
worded as a positive right way bad
released bought out like um agreed to a dissolution they got all these euphemisms for they cut his ass right
so and and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that people get cut it doesn’t mean you’re not good enough it’s just that they thought they could do something better with this money that’s what getting cut means with this money or this and or this roster spot. So, in the case of Damen Lillard, well, he didn’t have to give up a dime. The money’s still coming in. He gets to choose where he goes, but more importantly, he could choose not to go anywhere. He could choose to go home and hang out with his kids and he’s missed for the last, you know, two years, right? And just be at home every day, rehab, and be at home and take his kids to school and pick them up and all. These are all things he gets to do now without sacrificing a nickel. And then at the end of the year, he can then evaluate how do I feel? Where do I want to go? etc., etc. So, Dame didn’t get done dirty at all. No, I mean, I think for all the reasons that you said, like, look, we knew Dame was not happy. Like, we got to rewind back to this when Dame requested a trade out of Portland, he initially wanted to go to Miami and Milwaukee stepped in and was like, “Hey, we don’t need any more space between us and the Miami Heat. We’re going to intercept this and make the best offer for Damen Lillard.” not knowing whether Damen Lillard was actually open to playing in Milwaukee. I believe it’s something like a 6-hour flight to get from Milwaukee to Portland. I feel like there’s so many more places that you can go to in between that are not as far. So, yeah, I get why. I mean, he may not want to be there and may want to be closer to his babies.
Yeah. I I mean especially like somewhere that he didn’t want to be in the first place because I know a lot of people going say hold on Vinnie Miami to Portland is the longest flight in the NBA. Yeah. But is it a lot different when you wanted to be somewhere where the longest fighter you you already you were prepared to accept that? It’s it’s different when you go somewhere where you weren’t that’s not where you were you getting your your hopes up for. And so from that standpoint,
I think look a and I think Damen Lillard probably more so than most guys because I know someone brought this up that Chris Paul hasn’t lived with his kids basically since he was a Clipper not in the during the season, right? Because Houston, then OKC, then Phoenix, then uh Golden State, he’s for most of those stops, he’s been close enough close enough to a flight away from home. never felt the need to move his family.
Right.
Right. But at the same time takes a toll, right? Like I want to be around my family. It’s the same same situ it’s a a different situation I think with Damen Lillard. Number one hadn’t had that continuous presence. Right. Or excuse me, having had that continuous presence in Portland and then all of a sudden you’re in Milwaukee and I think this situation is hard. it hits him harder than it’s it might hit uh a standard player who’s living away from home basically. But
at the end of the day, again, the things that we will accept, the sacrifices we will accept are commisserate with what we think we’re getting with them.
I’m preparing, oh, I’m going to I’m going to play for the Miami Heat. I want to play for this organization, this coach, and I want to play with these teammates. That’s what I’m prepared to sacrifice family time for. So, it’s not a case of where people can just say, “Well, Milwaukeeke’s good. Giannis is good. Why don’t you just want to play that?” It’s not the same. That’s not what he’s sacrificing for. He was sacrificing for something specific. And I could see why why he was not content. Look, and and here’s the thing. Now, he’s at a spot where he’s rehabbing and he can pretty much choose to not sign with a team. Although I think he might wind up signing with a team. I don’t think it’s necessarily out of the question. Do you think it’s best for him to go and be with the Lakers or go and be with some some other team, get with their medical staff, get accustomed to at least some things conceptually with the team so that a year from now, whatever condition you are in, even even if we’re not sure if Damen L is a starting point guard next year because he’s going to be 36 years old coming off of an Achilles, would it be better for him to sign with a team or is it better for him, like you said, to take the year off, do the best rehab and physical therapist that money can buy and then pick a team next summer.
Look, I mean, it’s tough, right? It’s tough for any team that’s interested in signing him. You’re talking about a two-year deal. No one wants him there for a year and then like it gets better like, “All right, thanks a lot, guys. Bye.” And then he goes and plays somewhere else. So, you you want him for at least two years. Then the part the next part that comes is like beyond rehabbing, beyond supervising his rehab, what value do we have from having him around? And I think when you say that, when you ask the question that way, I think there’s one destination in particular that I think they should be very interested and bringing Damen Lillard in. The Portland Trailblazers
pray. Oh, okay. All right. If I’m the Blazers, right, like bring them in, rehab, all that stuff. Number one, closer to fam. Number two, it’s might be the only destination out of the interested parties where it’s like, we need your intangibles. We need you here to show these guys how to be pros, how to do things the right way. We just saw them get rid of DeAndre Eaton. Why? Right. Jason Quicker, the athletic, pretty much laid it all out. The dude was unprofessional and they didn’t want that influence around a bunch of young impressionable guys that they have high hopes for. Johny Bilips has a way of he wanted doing things, a way of just like he was as a player, a way of professionalism in his organization, in his locker room. Who’s a better professional and a better leader than Damen Lillard? You come in, you rehab under us, we get you right. In the meantime, you’re not going to be isolated from our team. We want you around our rookies. We want you talking to guys, letting them know things on the court, things off the court, how to approach, diet, exercise, social life, all those things. He provides a massive value in year one of a deal. And I don’t know of any other destination, not the Lakers, not the Heat, not anywhere else where they could say, “No, no, we need you right now. We don’t need you for a year from now. Hope you’re feeling better. We need you right now.” I think Portland would be a great fit.
Okay. Okay, so now that we figured out the dame stuff, I mean as you switch locations for the people on YouTube, where does this leave Giannis onto the kmpo? Hakee signed his extension that from the Dame Lillard trade
that kicks in this year, right?
So he has two years in a player option for a ungodly amount, but it feels like the Milwaukee Bucks are not better constructed, better suited to make a run through the Eastern Conference. They don’t even have a point guard. So, where do they actually go from here? There’s some point guards on the market, but it doesn’t feel like there’s no more move. There doesn’t feel like there’s more moves for John Horse in his front office left to play.
Yeah. No, this is So, I I’ve been describing this as a team that’s been operating under extreme basketball debt, right? It’s not not like cash owed, but like all their resources are owed. They all they owe pretty much all their picks through 2030 either or the rights to their picks, right? whether pick swaps, whether they’re outright first rounders, second rounders are all out the door till about 2030.
And so you you’re put in a position where
you can’t even a and they other than a second round pick coming in in this upcoming draft, they have nothing incoming. So they have run out of they’ve effectively run out of all the resources available to acquire and then also they’ve run out of any sort of safety net in terms of if anything goes wrong. And I think that’s that’s a big thing to keep in mind. Uh, as far as who’s on the market, I mean, Chris Paul is still available. And, you know, it’s he’s damn sure a lot better than a lot of guys you could bring in off of the G-League or other point guards on the market, but it just highlights kind of the position you’re in. I think ultimately, that’s the thing about the Damen Lillard stretch waiver is it it was a nuclear option. They gave up two pick swaps and two first rounders for him. One was already conveyed, one conveys in two years, right? And then excuse me, conveys to 29, excuse me. Uh the pick swaps are in 28 and 30. And then uh they also gave up Drew Holidayiday, who they’d also given up about was that four first round picks for. So you hit that red button. It’s not, oh, we just swapped out Damen Lillard for uh Miles Turner. It’s not, oh, so, okay, so we’re paying effectively $49 million a year for Miles Turner. It’s you nuked a whole bunch of devoted resources to get Miles Turner. And that’s not a knock on Miles Turner, but if we are uh talking about um reasons to hit the nuclear button, it’s because there’s a riskreward. There’s a riskreward. I’m gonna take this risk. Why? Because I think my ceiling is amazing if it if it plays out the way I think it should. Miles Turner is a good center
and he’s not overpaid. I see a lot of people trying to crack on how much they paid for him. I think in in general he is in line with all the other starting centers in the market. Whether it’s Isaiah Hartinstein, whether it’s Jed Allen, Nick Claxton, Nas Reed, who technically isn’t a starting center, right? It’s all around the same salary level. So, I don’t think his salary is crazy. I just think
what does Miles Turner do for this team? Like, if we start counting teams in the Eastern Conference,
do you feel very confident that the Bucks are going to be a top six team with Miles Turner?
I I don’t Let’s count them out. Let’s count them out. Let’s count them out. New York Knicks, who we’re going to get to. They just hired Mike Brown. We’re going to talk about them.
One,
New York Knicks. Cleveland Cavaliers.
Yes. Two. Orlando Magic
three sneaky Atlanta Hawks.
I I’m with it. I can see why people would be uh skeptical because we still got to see them actually do it, but I’m with you. Four Detroit Pistons.
There you go. Five. Keep going.
And does does Boston still have enough?
Absolutely. Six. That’s six right there.
So So six right there. We have and we haven’t we haven’t talked about the Philadelphia 76ers. I know it’s a punchline, but if they’re healthy, if they’re healthy, like
yeah, that’s a different story. It’s a very different story. So, you got to talk about the Sixers.
You you and then at that point, so now we’ve named seven teams. Now, you start to name teams that the Bucks are better than, but it’s like how much better? Because on a bad day, I could see you losing to these cats. the Miami Heat, they’re still gonna hang around. They’re still going to be pesky as ever.
I think the Toronto Raptors are going to be a lot better with a healthy Brandon Ingram.
I think uh the Chicago Bulls can be just they’re irritating enough to be a 10 seed every year, but that’s again that’s irritating enough. And so, and even the Indiana Pacers, who I think they have major question marks because you lost your starting center and your starting point guard, it can’t just be, oh, Isaiah Jackson is back. He’ll be he’ll be fine. and the guy’s coming off an Achilles and Nem Hart and and TJ McConnell, it’s unfair to ask them to replicate what they did in the seven game series over 82 games.
82 games. That’s not the same. That’s impossible. It’s not the same. It’s impossible.
So, so, but having said that, ain’t going to be a pushover now. It ain’t going to be a walk in the park. So, you start looking around like who are the teams that we know the Bucks are absolutely better than? Charlotte, Washington, Brooklyn. That it.
I think I stopped counting, man. I think that’s it. That was a team you’re supposed to be better than anyway. Like,
this feels like the this feels like not that Giannis wants to go because it feels like I always tell this say this all the time. You leave a relationship when you want to leave the relationship. You stay in a relationship because you don’t want to leave the relationship. Giannis does not want to leave Milwaukee. And they keep pressing the nuclear buttons to make him stay. But as his greatness starts to wayne, I mean like we assume that from 2017 until now, you can pencil Giannis in for 30 11 boards, six or seven assists, a couple of blocks to steal or whatever. With the way he plays, the violent nature of how he plays, I don’t know how much longer he can continue to play this way in a healthy way coming up on age 31. So he almost has to he should be looking hot take here. He should be looking at Damen Lew and saying you know what Damen Lewitt waited two years too long before he made his trade request.
Don’t let that be me.
Well I mean Kevin the ghost of Kevin Garnett hovers around every superstar who’s been with this team.
KG said I mean KG was MVP of the league in 2004 and then I believe they they missed the playoffs in 2005. Yeah, that was the year where he get the John the John Thompson crying interview because of Flip Saunders being fired the next year.
Yep. Flip Saunders got fired.
You don’t have And then Dwayne Casey came in and Dwayne Casey was was decent and then they fired him too. But it’s like but but this is my point when people like oh these superstars uh um they’re I can’t believe they’re they’re how arrogant they are and they just they don’t take it like it’s not about like running from responsibility. The the point is that when you are a superstar NBA player you have a window. Every every player has a window. I got to make as much money as possible to support my every single player, right? But then when you’re a superstar player, you have a specific window where I have to achieve as many accolades as possible. Chief among them a championship. And if I exit that window, I have lost an opportunity I could never regain and I’m going to be judged for it. Right? I said this after they won the championship uh or like a couple years after they won the championship. I said, “Broo Lopez will never have to buy a drink again in in Milwaukee.” Drew Holiday gets a red carpet everywhere he goes in Milwaukee. Bobby Poris, they chant his name whenever he walks in any establishment. We’ll never have to get a reservation anyway. Giannis, they’ll say, “What you had was one.” That’s what they’ll say about you, right? Those other guys can retire and and obviously Drew Ali went on and win another one, but they all can retire and everyone say, “Hey man, you can’t toss me. I’m an NBA champ.” But for Giannis, his conversation goes a little bit long further than did you ever win. It’s how many did you win? Because I’m measuring myself
not against the the regular NBA player, the standard NBA player. I’m measuring myself against the greats, against the Michaels, the Larry’s, the LeBron, the Steph Curry’s. I want to be mentioned with them, the Kevin Durant. I want to be mentioned with them.
And if I only have one, I’m at the kitty table. And that’s that’s the desperation of a superstar. It’s not about disloyalty. It’s not about anything more than I can’t waste. I’m 31 years old. I can’t waste my time waiting for y’all to get your act together.

Did the Bucks do Damian Lillard dirty?

Vincent Goodwill and Amin Elhassan break down Dame’s exit from Milwaukee, why it might’ve been a blessing in disguise, and what his future looks like — from rehab to potential landing spots. They also dig deep into what this means for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Is it time for him to consider leaving Milwaukee? The duo assess the Bucks’ depleted resources, missed opportunities, and whether Giannis risks wasting his prime.

👀 Where should Dame go next?
💭 Should Giannis follow the KG blueprint?

0:00 – Was Dame done wrong by the Bucks?
2:20 – Dame’s unhappiness in Milwaukee
3:45 – Choosing Miami vs. being stuck in Milwaukee
6:40 – Should Dame sign now or rehab and wait?
7:30 – Why Portland might actually make sense again
8:55 – What does Dame’s exit mean for Giannis?
12:00 – Can the Bucks still be a top-6 team in the East?
13:35 – Eastern Conference hierarchy rundown
16:45 – The difference between loyalty and legacy

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