Damian Lillard may have wanted to be a Miami Heat player right now, but he has a serious chance to contend for a title with the Milwaukee Bucks. Lillard joining Milwaukee shocked many when it happened, but it’s clear that Dame always knew it was a possibility, as he revealed while discussing how Giannis Antetokounmpo and Pat Connaughton managed to recruit Dame to the Bucks.
“There was a stretch, before they won, where (Giannis) was trying to get me to go to Milwaukee, and I was like, ‘No, you come to Portland!’ Pat Connaughton, who’s on our team now, was my rookie in Portland. After he signed here, he was the middleman. We were in the group chat, all three of us. I’d be like, ‘Pat, tell him to come here’ and (Giannis) like, ‘Tell Dame he needs to come to Milwaukee’.”
"There was a stretch where Giannis was trying to get me to go to Milwaukee, and I was like, 'No, you come to Portland!'… Pat Connaughton was my rookie in Portland. After he signed here, he was the middleman."
— Damian Lillard 👀
(via @PlayersTribune)pic.twitter.com/RDI20qEGdU
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 20, 2023
Now that they’re finally teammates in Milwaukee, they can focus on winning games. After a slow start to the season, the Bucks have gone on a five-game win streak to improve their record to 10-4, just one game behind the No. 1 seed Celtics, who ate a shocking loss to the Hornets tonight.
Lillard is averaging 24.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in his debut season with the Bucks. The superstar of the team still has been Giannis, who’s in the thick of a very competitive MVP battle with his season averages of 30.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists.
Damian Lillard Reveals His First Interaction With Giannis After Being Traded
Damian Lillard knows that he made this move to win an NBA title, with Giannis welcoming such a move due to the same goal. Now, they need to find the pieces together to lead this team to a title. They need to be good communicators with each other to bring the success Milwaukee wants, but it seems their relationship got off to a great start, according to Dame.
“As soon as I got there, Giannis walked in like two minutes later. I was sitting there and talking about some physical stuff and he just walked into the office like, ‘Can I just talk to him? Can I talk to Dame for five minutes?’ Everyone walked out and we sat there for an hour just talking about what we needed to do. This is what I’m about, it was that type of conversation.”
Giannis has gone out of his way to ensure Dame is comfortable in Milwaukee. He’s shed his usage rate to play through Dame more often, which was something he intended to do the second Lillard joined the franchise. Giannis can’t control or shoot the ball like Dame, so it made sense for the Bucks to have one guard offensive option that can be elite at that level.
Khris Middleton is finding his feet on a significant minutes restriction to start the season. Despite that, he’s putting up solid enough numbers. With Brook Lopez maintaining his rim protection, the Bucks loot set to make a push for the title, provided they can find the depth that they need through trades or a buyout signing.
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