Portland Trail Blazers trading Damian Lillard to rival Milwaukee Bucks

It’s been a long summer of rumors regarding Damian Lillard’s eventual landing spot, widely expected to be with the Miami Heat. The saga has finally come to a conclusion — one no one saw coming.

The Portland Trail Blazers are trading Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of a three-team deal, first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

As Eastern Conference rivals, this obviously doesn’t bode well for the Sixers. Milwaukee was tough enough competition as it was with Giannis Antetokounmpo and his supporting cast. Now they add Lillard — and they didn’t give up all that much to get him.

The move is part of a three-team deal involving Milwaukee, the Trail Blazers and the Phoenix Suns. Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton and Tourmani Camara head to Portland along with Milwaukee’s 2029 unprotected first round pick and unprotected swap rights in 2028 and 2030. The Suns acquire Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson.

All eyes will be on how the Bucks’ newest superstar meshes with the squad when the Sixers open the NBA season on Oct. 26 in Milwaukee.