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Seven-time All-Star Damian Lillard is being traded by Portland to play alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee in a deal that ends a three-month saga surrounding his future.
Lillard goes from the Trail Blazers to the Bucks in a three-team deal that sends Jrue Holiday from the Bucks to Portland, Deandre Ayton from Phoenix to Portland and Jusuf Nurkic from the Blazers to the Suns.
The acquisition of Lillard comes after Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP, said he wanted to see how committed the Bucks are toward winning another championship before deciding whether to sign a long-term deal to stay in Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo’s contract runs through the 2024-25 season, with a player option for 2025-26.
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Lillard made an impressive 71 points against the Houston Rockets – a career-high, as well as a franchise-record for the Trail Blazers
Lillard, 33, has played his entire 11-year career with Portland, which selected him with the sixth overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft.
He averaged a franchise-record 32.2 points per game in 2022-23, the third-highest clip in the league, but Portland finished 33-49 and missed the playoffs for the second straight season.
Named one of the NBA’s 75 greatest players of all-time in 2021, Lillard won Rookie of the Year honors in 2012-13 and has made All-NBA teams seven times.
He is Portland’s career leader in points (19,376) and 3-point field goals (2,387).
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Lillard hit this three pointer to win the All-Star game for Team Giannis against Team LeBron
His series-winning shot to eliminate Oklahoma City from the 2019 NBA playoffs – a step-back three-pointer over Paul George from nearly 40 feet as time expired – is one of the iconic postseason moments in not just Portland history but NBA history as well.
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