This is another article saying what Blazers got for Lillard and ignoring the fact Nurkic was in the mix too.
And so was Little and Grayson. But it was the Lillard trade. The rest was ballast to make the trade work. When the Bucks traded Kareem to LAL, nobody thinks of the ballast. It was the Kareem to Lakers deal.
Nurkic and Little for Ayton was fair deal for both teams. Was it part of Lillard trade? Yes. Was Lillard traded for Ayton+? Not really.
people forget we also got Toumani with Ayton in the Phoenix deal. Little and Johnson have since been waived by Phoenix...we did really well in the Dame trade with Timelord in the deal as well as what turned into Deni through Brogdan
100% That was a great deal. That was as much as we were ever going to get out of Lillard. Anybody disappointed with the return on Lillard had completely unrealistic expectations.
Davante Adams Raiders trade would end Damian Lillard’s Raiders fandom (usatoday.com) "Lillard" is a synonym for "patient loyalty."
People seem to forget that Giannis can't seem to finish a season anymore, both of them are getting older, they didn't really improve their team much, and Damian's seems allergic to working on his biggest weakness (defense). And their great coach lead them to (checks math) 38 wins over 82 games. The Bucks window is just about shut.
Im really looking forward to those pick swaps and first we have of theirs. I think they are timed out perfectly for when they hit bottom. I think in five years, what Cronin did with the Dame move is going to prove to be incredibly savvy and great long term thinking.
That stretch could be good for the team, draft asset wise, but it depends on how strong the drafts are. Ideally, the pick swaps with Boston and Milwaukee bring lotto picks to Portland ( don't remember if there was any restrictions on the picks). But realistically, they'll probably be late lotto to mid teens, and hopefully Portland at that time is mid 20's, which would still be a beneficial swap.
