When the Milwaukee Bucks acquired Damian Lillard in a high-profile trade in 2023, they undoubtedly hoped to get more from him. Any progress was erased when the seasoned shooter suffered a ruptured Achilles, and a dream 1-2 combo with Giannis Antetokounmpo never really came to pass or produced any noteworthy results.
On Tuesday, the team made the somewhat unexpected decision to waive Lillard and use the money saved to sign Myles Turner. Therefore, Milwaukee’s only result from their audacious decision to sign Lillard is two straight first-round playoff exits.
That alone makes it a poor transaction, but ESPN’s Tim McMahon added even more information to highlight how disastrous it ended up being.
“The Damian Lillard trade was a complete disaster.” 😳
—@espn_macmahon on the Bucks having to pay Lillard while not possessing all of their first round picks 😅 pic.twitter.com/k6haOZbizN
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 2, 2025
According to McMahon on Get Up: “This is a desperation move and it’s an admission that the Damian Lillard trade was a complete disaster,”
“You go all-in on a superstar like that to keep Giannis happy,”. “You try to re-open that championship window. It doesn’t produce a single playoff series win. And lok, they haven’t paid off the picks on the Jrue Holiday trade, which by the way, did help deliver a championship. They flip Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard, now they owe Dame $22.5 million for the next five years. They’re out money, they’re out picks. Myles Turner is nice fit, he’s a nice player, he’s a moderate upgrade over Brook Lopez but this does not vault the Bucks back into the championship contention picture.”
