PORTLAND, Ore. — It took nearly three months, but Dame Time has officially run out in Portland. Almost 13 weeks after Lillard's trade request went public on July 1, the Portland Trail Blazers traded their franchise icon, arguably the best player in franchise history, to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team trade that also includes the Phoenix Suns, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported.
Lillard reacted to the trade a little more than an hour after it was first reported. He tweeted that he'd address the Blazers and their fans later, then added, "Excited for my next chapter! @Bucks"
The Blazers will receive point guard Jrue Holiday from the Milwaukee Bucks and center Deandre Ayton from the Phoenix Suns. Portland also gets a 2029 unprotected first-round pick from Milwaukee and unprotected first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030 from the Bucks. The Blazers will also will receive rookie power forward Toumani Camara from Phoenix.
The Blazers will send Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson to Phoenix and Milwaukee will send Grayson Allen to the Suns.
Nurkic also responded to the trade, thanking the Blazers and their fans. "My family and I want to say THANK YOU to the entire @trailblazers organization and fans," Nurkic tweeted.
Here are the terms of the trade, according to multiple reports:
- Portland receives: Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, 2029 first-round pick from Milwaukee, 2028 and 2030 first-round pick swaps from Milwaukee
- Milwaukee receives: Damian Lillard
- Suns receive: Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, Keon Johnson, Grayson Allen
Wojnarowski reported Portland is currently shopping Holiday to contending teams. Holiday, 33, is a two-time All-Star and five-team All-Defensive player and won an NBA championship with Milwaukee in 2021. He averaged 19.3 points, 7.4 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game last season. Holiday has more value to contending teams in need of an upgrade at point guard than he does to Portland, which is embarking on a rebuild after trading Lillard.
"The Blazers remain engaged elsewhere on deals and are expected to immediately engage contending teams on trade talks to move Jrue Holiday," Wojnarowski tweeted.
Ayton, 25, was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft. Over his first five seasons, the 6-foot-11, 250-pound center has averaged 16.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and a block per game, while shooting 59.7% from the field and 75.5% from the free-throw line. Last season, he averaged 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.8 blocks per game. He's an upgrade at center for the Blazers and fits better with Portland's young roster than the 29-year-old Nurkic.
The Blazers' new center has three years and $102 million remaining on his current contract. He'll make $32.5 million this coming season.
Camara, a 6-8, 220-pound forward, was drafted in the second round with the 52nd overall pick in this past summer's NBA draft. He averaged 13.9 points and 8.6 points during his senior season at Dayton.
Little, headed to Phoenix in the trade, leaves Portland after four seasons. The 25th pick in the 2019 NBA draft, Little averaged 6.0 points and 3.2 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game during his time in Portland. Johnson, also going to the Suns, came to Portland in a deadline trade in 2022. He averaged 6.5 points and 2.0 assists in 62 games with the Blazers.
When Lillard's trade request went public in July, it was widely reported that his preferred destination was the Miami Heat. But the chance to compete for a title with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee, which won the NBA championship in 2021, is about as good a situation for Lillard as he could ask for.
Lillard will also be reunited in Milwaukee his Terry Stotts, his former coach in Portland. Stotts was hired by the Bucks earlier this summer as an assistant coach.
The Blazers and Bucks play twice this season. The first game is a road game for Portland on Sunday, Nov. 26. Lillard's first game back in Portland with his new team will be on Wednesday, Jan. 31. The lowest ticket price for that game on Ticketmaster is currently $175.
Lillard's legacy in Portland
It’s impossible to put into words what Lillard has meant to not only the Portland Trail Blazers but to the Portland area. The accolades speak for themselves — the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, an Olympic gold medalist, a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, a seven-time All-Star, a seven-time All-NBA selection, Rookie of the Year — but it’s so much more than that. The reason so many people consider Lillard the greatest Blazer of all time is not just because of the points and honors and awards, but also for the way he connected to the community.
It was Lillard’s RESPECT program, which encouraged “ongoing, respectful behavior among youth” at several Portland-area high schools, including Madison, Parkrose and Roosevelt. It was the many visits he made to schools, both scheduled and unscheduled, to spend time with students. It was Lillard driving a U-Haul truck to a park in Portland to give away free Adidas shoes to kids. It was Lillard joining protesters in a 2020 march to Waterfront Park in response to the death of George Floyd. It was the fact that Lillard wore the letter O — not the number zero — out of respect for his hometown of Oakland, his college years spent in Ogden, Utah, and his professional career in Oregon. It was Lillard’s youth foundation, his work as a global ambassador for the Special Olympics, his rap career, his funny commercials, his love for Portland, the Blazers and their fans. It was his dedication to his lovely wife and adorable children.
When taking into consideration everything on and off the court, Portland has long believed Lillard is simply the best the NBA has to offer. And now he’s taking all that goodness to Milwaukee, where he'll pair with superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Most Blazers fans won’t blame Lillard for leaving. He gave the Trail Blazers franchise and this city 11 seasons of excellence. He’s probably the most popular person in Portland, a popularity that’s unlikely to diminish with his absence, especially as the years pass. The Blazers fanbase knows the front office never gave Lillard a championship-level roster, especially after LaMarcus Aldridge left for San Antonio after the 2014-15 season. When the current front office didn’t fulfill Lillard’s request to add win-now talent instead of more young players, that was the final straw. Lillard said it publicly, on multiple occasions this offseason, what he wanted the Blazers front office to do, and what he was prepared to do — leave Portland — if they didn’t come through. Nobody should blame him for being a man of his word.
Lillard leaves Blazers fans with an overabundance of memories, of iconic moments the fanbase won’t easily forget. Passing Clyde Drexler as the Blazers’ all-time leading scorer. The "bad shot" over Paul George to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2019 playoffs. Screaming "Rip City!!!!" to the fans after hitting a game-winning 3-pointer to send the Houston Rockets home in the 2014 playoffs. Lillard’s Bubble MVP performance in Orlando during the pandemic. His 55-point, 10-assist performance (including 12 3-pointers) in a loss against Denver in the 2021 playoffs. Dropping a career-high and franchise-record 71 points last season.
The Bucks are getting Lillard now as he’s coming off what he and others have called the best season of his career. He averaged a career-high 32.2 points per game last season, adding 7.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and had a true-shooting percentage of 64.5%, the highest of his career. He not only set the franchise’s individual game scoring record with 71 points last season, he also had a 60-point game and a 50-point game. He scored 40 points or more 12 times. The Blazers weren’t very good last season — and may not be good again for seasons to come — but Lillard was phenomenal in his final turn in a Blazers uniform.
Lillard leaves Portland with his name plastered all over the Blazers' all-time leaderboards. He's first in points (19,376), points per game (25.2), career 3-pointers (2,387), free throws (4,427) and free-throw percentage (89.5%). He’s also second in assists (5,151).
He's truly one of a kind. Blazers fans will never forget him and will probably never stop rooting for him. Hopefully he’ll return to Portland someday, either later in his career or after he's retired. For now, please treat him well, Milwaukee.
Nurkic leaves Portland after seven seasons
Lillard wasn't the only longtime Blazers player that was traded Wednesday.
Nurkic, 28, played the past seven seasons in Portland. He arrived with a bang. The Blazers traded for Nurkic in the week leading up to the trade deadline during the 2016-17 season. Portland, in the midst of a terrible season, dealt starting center Mason Plumlee and a second-round pick to the Denver Nuggets for Nurkic and a first-round pick. The Blazers were 23-31 at the time and the front office looked like it was essentially giving up on the season with the trade. Nurkic was a distressed asset at the time. He’d fallen out of favor and out of the rotation in Denver, was out of shape and seemed like a throw-in in the trade. At the time, the draft pick was considered the real value return for the Blazers in that trade.
But Nurkic showed much more in Portland than anyone expected. His presence helped turn around the Blazers season. In 20 games, the 6-foot-11, 290-pound center averaged 15.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.3 steals in 29.2 minutes per game, setting off “Nurk Fever” in Portland as the Blazers won 14 of the 20 games he played before he broke his leg with seven games left. He missed the rest of the regular season, returning to play 16 minutes in Game 3 of the Blazers’ first-round series against the Warriors, a four-game sweep in which Portland was outscored by a combined 85 points.
Injuries were a big part of Nurkic’s tenure in Portland. When he was on the court, the Blazers were good. He was particularly impactful on defense. His first season in Portland, the Blazers gave up 3.2 fewer points per 100 possessions with Nurkic on the court, and those numbers only got better over time. In the past three seasons, the Blazers have been 9.7 points better, 11 points better and 6.5 points better on defense with Nurkic on the court than when he was on the bench, according to Cleaning the Glass.
The problem was Nurkic’s ability to stay on the court because of injuries. He played in 151 regular-season games in his second and third seasons with the Blazers, but it was near the end of the 2018-19 season, his third with the team, when Nurkic suffered compound fractures to his left tibia and fibula in a demoralizing season-ending injury. He missed most of the following season, returning at the end of the 2019-20 season to help the Blazers during their playoff push in the Disney bubble. Nurkic was fantastic in the bubble, averaging 17.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.4 steals in 31.6 minutes per game. He helped lead the Blazers to wins in six of the eight games they played to finish the regular season in the bubble. He ran out of gas in a five-game first-round series loss against the Lakers, though, averaging 14.2 points and 10.4 rebounds but shooting just 43.9% from the field and averaging just 0.2 blocks per game.
Bad injury luck struck again the following season when Nurkic fractured his right wrist 12 games into the season and missed the next 33 games. He returned to the court and averaged 12.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 24.0 minutes per game over the final 28 games of the season. He was effective when he could stay on the court in a six-game first-round loss to the depleted Denver Nuggets, averaging 13.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and shooting 54.5% from the field in 28.9 minutes per game. But he struggled with foul trouble trying to contain league MVP Nikola Jokic, fouling out in three of the six games and averaged five fouls per game in the series. After the series, Nurkic expressed displeasure with his role and the situation in Portland and said he didn’t know if he wanted to come back to Portland the following season.
But Nurkic did return for the 2021-22 season, and had one of the best seasons of his career, averaging 15.0 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He also shot a career-high 53.5% from the field. He enjoyed good health, playing in 56 of the Blazers’ first 59 games. He was eventually shut down for the final 23 games of the season with what the team claimed was plantar fasciitis as Portland prioritized draft position over wins to close the season.
Last season, Nurkic averaged 13.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks in 26.8 minutes per game. He missed six games with various ailments and then missed 14 games from early February to early March with a left calf strain. He returned and played seven games, averaging 10.7 points and 6.6 rebounds in 23.6 minutes per game before the Blazers shut him down for the final 10 games as they tried to position themselves for a high draft pick for the second season in a row.
Overall, Nurkic was a productive player for the Blazers when he was on the court. He was a skilled playmaker, a strong rebounder and a solid defender for much of his time in Portland. In 317 career games with the Blazers, he averaged 14.4 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.0 steal in 27 minutes per game. His 9.8 rebounds per game is the fourth-best mark in team history, behind Marcus Camby (10.0), Sidney Wicks (10.3) and Bill Walton (13.5).