Damian Lillard Rumors

So far, the Bucks' play on waiving-and-stretching Lillard in order to sign Turner has backfired. Antetokounmpo has missed 32 games with various injuries, Turner has not been impactful, and the Bucks have struggled to find any consistency. After a season like this, multiple league executives made the case that the Bucks' best strategy would be to trade Antetokounmpo for a haul of draft picks and strong young players rather than doubling down on this season's failed experiment and offering him a massive extension. "He's still a game changer, but he's 31 with a history of leg injuries," a rival executive said. "And now you'd basically be trading for a guy on an expiring deal, so I'm not sure the offers they'll get this summer are going to be better than what they already got."

ESPN

Myles Turner: So, I think in their heads what they was thinking cuz obviously you know the little the thing that happened with Damian Lillard had they waved and stretched out. It created a lot more cap space. And if you look at the cap space for that summertime, I think in their heads they was thinking there was nowhere else for me to go. Which I'm a businessman. I'm like, ‘Okay, cool. I got this asset. There's nowhere else for him to go. I'm off from a low bomb and see what happens.’ So they made that final offer on the table and whatnot and they weren't willing to go up very high, you know, contrary to what's said out there, they wasn't willing to go up and once the news broke, it was like a oh [ __ ] he betrayed us, you know what I mean?”

YouTube

The Giannis Antetokounmpo relationship with Milwaukee currently is what, Brian? Brian Windhorst: “The Giannis Antetokounmpo relationship with Milwaukee currently is not connected. And this entire season has really been a complete disappointment for them. They made one of the more aggressive transactions I can remember in the modern era last summer when they waived Dame Lillard’s money, keeping it on their books and paying it off over the next five years, and then immediately went out and signed Myles Turner for $100 million. So it was like a $200 million transaction there: $100 million in dead money, $100 million in new money. And while Myles Turner is a quality player, Dame Lillard is a difference-making player. Myles Turner is not.”

YouTube

Damian Lillard made it clear he wants to end things in Portland. He began his NBA career with the Blazers in 2012 and said he would like to end it with the Blazers. However, he doesn't have a definitive timetable for how much longer he wants to play and when he plans to retire. "Whenever it does end, that's definitely my plan is to be playing for the Trail Blazers in my last game of my career," said Lillard about ending his career in Portland. "I don't have a timeline. I just know that I'll play as long as I feel in my heart that I can do the things that I do. The moment that I can't do what I do, there will be no reason for me to continue to do it."

Casino

The season-long absence for Lillard has given him a greater appreciation for the game. This is the most serious injury Lillard has suffered in his career, with an abdominal injury that limited him to just 29 games during the 2021-22 season being the other serious injury of his NBA career. "I've had injuries," Lillard said. "There's none that had me sidelined for a full season, so it's definitely different. But it's given me the time that I think at this point in my life, that I needed. Now I'll be extremely excited to play, I'll have that edge. I'll have that joy, and this also has given me my body a full break from full-time traveling games, back-to-backs. That is hard on your body.”

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"Having a year off is like adding a year to my career," Lillard continued to say. "Being able to drop my kids off at school, pick them up from school, go to basketball games, soccer games, drop them off at tutoring, go to swim class. All of these things I've been at every day, every week in my relationship. The time that I'm getting with my kids has been great for me with my family. It's been great for me.”

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Veteran Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard wasn’t as shocked about Bam Adebayo’s historic 83-point performance as some of his NBA peers. During NBA TV’s live telecast, Lillard jokingly took credit for Adebayo scoring 83 points during the Miami Heat’s 150-129 victory over the Washington Wizards. “I taught Bam everything he knows,” Lillard said. “Everything he knows, I taught him. Bam is acting totally different right now. I don’t know what got into him.”

Heavy.com

Lillard then narrated a story from his time together with Adebayo during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (held in 2021). “When we were at the Olympics — this is a true story — Bam was like, ‘I’m trying to average 30.’ I literally said to him, ‘You think you’re a 30-point scorer like that?’ “He was like, ‘What do you mean?’ When I was watching him (tonight) I’m like ‘maybe he knew something I didn’t know.'”

Heavy.com

Lillard added that he had to call A’ja Wilson, Adebayo’s girlfriend, to confirm if she was training him to become a better scorer. “A’ja been working with him, because he ain’t ever scored like this in his life.” Further to Lillard’s point, Adebayo had only two 30-point games through his first 56 games of the season before Tuesday’s explosion. Adebayo credited A’ja Wilson for helping him shore up his offensive skills. “To have 83 the first game she’s here is very special… the behind-the-scenes, the workouts, the conversations, they’re very motivating, and obviously you see what she does… you get inspired by that. I’m thankful to have her in my life,” Adebayo said.

Heavy.com

How many times have you watched Damian Lillard hit a defender with a dribble jab, create separation and hit a 3-pointer? That bar perfectly encapsulated his hip-hop and basketball skills. “Wasatch Front” was a defining moment for Lillard. “What’s Up Doc? (Can We Rock?)” was a defining moment for O’Neal. When we talk about hip-hop meshing with basketball players, those two provided the blueprint. The list is longer than some may assume. There was Cedric Ceballos in the early 1990s. Gary Payton, Chris Webber and Allen Iverson all dabbled in the genre. The late, great Kobe Bryant put out a memorable collaboration with R&B superstar Brian McKnight, “Hold Me,” in 1997.

New York Times

ESPN reported Monday that Damian Lillard shared a screenshot of messages between him and Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, with Lillard trying to coax Curry, Klay Thompson, Devin Booker and others into competing when All-Star weekend hits Phoenix next February. “Next year … me, you, klay, book, and 4 more real shooters …” Lillard’s message reads. “Yessir I’m in,” Curry responded. “Know Klay will do it if I ask and book will be at home. Perfect setup.”

Oregonian

Duane Rankin: Devin Booker said next year may very well be the last time he competes in the NBA All-Star 3-point contest as he lost, 29-27, to Damian Lillard in this year's final. "This one hurt a little bit. I wanted this one bad. Wish I was defending it in Phoenix but it'll probably be the last time I do it next year if I get the invite. I'm looking forward to it." If? #Suns #NBAAllStar #NBAAllStar26

x.com

The Hall of Famer was asked by Overtime to eat the Shaq-A-Licious Slam if he could name a player better than Curry in his prime. The candy stayed untouched. Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, and even O'Neal himself were mentioned, but Shaq picked Curry over them all. "Steph is the GOAT," O'Neal said.

BasketNews

Dame to Giannis after his three-point contest win: "Did you place something on Kalshi?"

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