In what is easily the most shocking twist of the NBA offseason to date, the Milwaukee Bucks waived and stretched the remaining $113 million on Damian Lillard's contract in order to clear cap space for incoming free agent Myles Turner. So, in addition to Turner's $26.8 million per year salary, Milwaukee will be on the hook for $22.6 million annually in dead money for the next five years. Woof.
This is Lillard's first time as a free agent, meaning he can hand-pick his destination. The Miami Heat feels like an obvious one, as Lillard requested a trade to South Beach before ending up in Milwaukee against his wishes. He could also return to Portland, where his family lives and where he spent the first decade of his career in high esteem.
Countless other teams figure to at least check in, but perhaps the most interesting hypothetical would be the Golden State Warriors. Lillard grew up in Oakland. It's his hometown team. We would all like to see Dame Lillard and Stephen Curry on the floor together. That is a level of pull-up shooting no defense is prepared to handle.
Alas, it's not meant to be, from the sound of things. We need only to reference a 2023 interview with Lillard from the 'It Is What It Is Podcast,' in which the All-Star point guard bluntly rejected the idea of joining up with Steph and company in Golden State.
Damian Lillard has zero interest in riding Steph's coattails to a ring with Warriors
“As far as like Golden State, I respect what they’ve been doing over the last eight, nine years or whatever and I’m from there obviously," Lillard said (h/t NBC Sports). "That’s home. But I can’t be a part of that. They’ve won four championships… Like what I look like going to try to do that and say oh I’m joining my home team. Like no. Somebody who played my position behind LeBron, the best player of this era. It don’t even make sense. I never do nothing like that. I lose every year before I go.”
In short, Lillard has a certain standard of individual excellence he wants to achieve. He wants to work for a ring, not just latch on with a proven juggernaut. Golden State has, in all fairness, lost a bit of its luster in recent years — Lillard probably won't be too reviled if he signs a minimum contract with the No. 7 seed in the West — but then again, Lillard might recoil at the proposition of joining such an accomplished group of teammates. He'd rather spend his time with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, who have only lost in the Finals.
In all seriousness, it's hard to know how much Lillard's perspective has (or hasn't) changed since 2023. A lot has happened, including a couple postseason flameouts in Milwaukee and a ruptured Achilles.
Has Damian Lillard's mindset changed about the Warriors?
Lillard won't be healthy next season. When he comes back, he will be a 35-year-old small guard coming off of a major knee surgery, probably on a minimum or mid-level contract. Him joining the Warriors now would take on a dramatically different narrative than him joining the Warriors a couple years ago.
That said, we can probably the read the tea leaves. Lillard always wanted Miami. And if not Miami, he probably wanted to play for a winner in Portland and finish his career where it started. Milwaukee was never the preference.
The Blazers aren't exactly short on guard depth, but that team is starting to trend toward winning. Miami is always trying, for better or worse, with Pat Riley in charge. Those feels like the probable destinations, not Golden State.