MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Bucks are finalizing a three-team trade that pairs Damian Lillard with superstar Giannis Antetokoumpo in Milwaukee, according to ESPN Insider Adrian Wojnarowski. Included in the deal are Bucks All-Star Jrue Holiday, guard Grayson Allen and multiple first-round draft picks.
Details are limited at this stage of the process, and the team has yet to confirm the deal. However, Wojnarowski says that the deal includes the Bucks’ unprotected 2029 first-round draft picks with first-round swaps in 2028 and 2030.
Lillard, a seven-time All-Star and one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history according to the league’s NBA 75 List, requested a trade from Portland earlier in the offseason as his team leaned into a youth movement by selecting point guard Scoot Henderson third overall in the 2023 NBA Draft.
The third team in the deal, the Phoenix Suns, will receive Allen from the Bucks and three players from the Trail Blazers: Keon Johnson, Jusuf Nurkic and Nassir Little. Portland also received former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton from the Suns.
Holiday will be sorely missed in Milwaukee, where he asserted himself as a fan favorite for his two-way play on the court and generosity off it. However, the opportunity to pair Lillard and Antetokoumpo was too great to pass up — especially in the wake of recent comments by Giannis about his uncertain future in Milwaukee.
Lillard, a 33-year-old point guard, is one of the game’s greatest shooters coming off a season in which he averaged 32.2 points, 7.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds on 46.3% shooting from the field and 37.1% shooting on more than 11 triples per game.
Wojnarowski has also reported that Portland will immediately engage in trade conversations that could send Holiday to a contending team.
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