One unintended consequence of Milwaukee Bucks acquiring Damian Lillard
By Todd Welter
The Milwaukee Bucks greatly increased their chances to win the NBA Championship this season when they acquired Damian Lillard in a three-team deal.
They had to send Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trailbazers in their part of the deal to land the superstar point guard.
Dame’s presence immediately improves the offense over Holiday. It also weakens the team defensively.
You got to give up something good to get something great in return.
That is not the biggest consequence of this trade. Holiday going to Portland means rival Eastern Conference contenders have a chance to bolster their rosters.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting the Blazers intend to turn around and trade Holiday for more assets.
The Blazers remain engaged elsewhere on deals and will are expected to immediately engage contending teams on trade talks to move on Jrue Holiday, sources tell ESPN. Portland is committed to its young group of talented guards. https://t.co/6IR7bcFVrr
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 27, 2023
While the Boston Celtics or the Miami Heat would have preferred to land Lillard, they can pursue a nice consolation prize in Holiday.
The Celtics are already rumored to be in the bidding for Jrue.
Not a big surprise, but I’ve been told the Celtics are expected to explore the possibility of trading for Jrue Holiday.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) September 28, 2023
If Boston or Miami can land Holiday, it means having to possibly face his pesky defense in the playoffs. The Philadelphia 76ers would become a tougher playoff opponent with Holiday on their roster over James Harden.
At the same time, this deal after Giannis Antetokounmpo put the franchise on notice with his comments this summer had to be done.
The organization has to do everything it can to keep Giannis happy so he will stay long term. With Giannis, this franchise is a title contender. Without him, the Milwaukee Bucks are NBA Siberia.
Holiday had to be the player to go since Khris Middleton is not eligible to be traded. In addition, Holiday could opt-out of his deal after the season. Getting Lillard back over the chance of losing Holiday for nothing is always going to be the better choice.
Plus, it is worth the risk of having Holiday possibly being acquired by other contenders because Jrue is not capable of winning a playoff series on his own. Dame can.
Holiday’s contributions to the 2021 NBA Championship will always be cherished. We have seen during the last two playoff runs that Holiday is not capable of raising his game to help cover for an injury to Middleton or Antetokounmpo.
In addition, the Bucks pick-and-roll offense becomes ten times better now that it is Dame Time.
Although we may have to worry about Holiday on the Celtics, Heat, or 76ers. Hopefully, the Blazers trade him within the Western Conference.
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