The Milwaukee Bucks stunned the basketball world with two major moves on Tuesday. It was first announced that the Bucks were signing Myles Turner to a massive four-year deal, but to do so, they had to waive Damian Lillard. It appears the decision to cut ties with Lillard in that manner hasn’t gone down too well with Giannis Antetokounmpo, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes.
“Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is not pleased with the team’s decision to waive Damian Lillard, league sources tell me.”
It certainly wasn’t pretty how the Bucks dumped Lillard, who tore his Achilles in the playoffs, but it was probably the only way they could have gotten Turner. Antetokounmpo wanted the front office to build a better team around him so that he could compete for a title, and they’ve done just that.
It would have been a bit unfair if Antetokounmpo was upset about this. Haynes later elaborated on the subject on Free Agent Fever.
“Sources have relayed to me that Giannis Antetokounmpo is not pleased with the Bucks’ decision to buy out Damian Lillard for the remainder of his contract,” Haynes stated. “He just didn’t like how it was handled.
“Giannis, this whole offseason, since the season ended, he’s been weighing his options and trying to figure out what he was going to do,” Haynes continued. “Trying to navigate his future, and this is just one more thing added to the equation… There are some suspect things happening, or the way that they are happening, and so I was told he was not happy with what transpired with Damian Lillard.”
Haynes did not mention what these “suspect things” were that had upset Antetokounmpo. It’s hard to even speculate on what those could be.
As for Antetokounmpo’s reaction to this news, he actually put out a post on X not long before these stories broke.
https://twitter.com/Giannis_An34/status/1940061007067353419
The timing sure is interesting. Antetokounmpo, who averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 0.9 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game in 2024-25, had seemingly ended speculation about his future, but you wonder if he will consider asking out based on all that Haynes stated.
Regardless of what the future holds, it is a shame that this is how the Antetokounmpo-Lillard partnership in Milwaukee is ending. There was so much excitement when the Bucks acquired the star guard from the Portland Trail Blazers in 2023.
A sniper like Lillard was viewed as an ideal fit next to Antetokounmpo, but these two never quite gelled on the court. Injuries to one or both of them in the 2024 and 2025 playoffs also meant we never got to see them in action together at full strength in the postseason.
Lillard ends his Bucks career with averages of 24.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game. One can only wonder what’s next for the 34-year-old.
