Following the Milwaukee Bucks’ loss to the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs, Stephen A. Smith believes that changes should be made. The Bucks were dealt with a bad hand as Giannis Antetokounmpo dealt with injuries throughout the season, including a calf strain that put him out for the entire series against Indiana. Plus, the coaching switch from Adrian Griffin to Doc Rivers didn’t do the team any favors in their pursuit to contend for a title this year.
Per his comments on First Take, Stephen A. Smith believes that the Bucks should trade Lillard to better maximize their roster around Antetokoumpo.
“My belief is that they should trade Damian Lillard. I know that’s going to be very, very difficult to do. Um, I’m not questioning his greatness at all. When Damian Lillard is healthy, I believe in this brother and I don’t give a damn how much money he’s getting paid in today’s NBA economy. I think the brother’s spectacular. I believe in him. But there’s two things that come to mind when it comes to Damian Lillard and why I said what I just said. One is they’re not young. He’s 34. Giannis is 30. They’re getting older. They don’t have free agent capabilities. Okay. On top of all that, they’re approaching the second apron of the luxury tax threshold. You got all of that going on.
He continued, “Number two, big perk. You remember this? Cheney, you remember this? I’m not making this up. Damian Lillard was on the record talking about how life was a bit rough. Being in Milwaukee, clearly that wasn’t his first choice. We all know you want to go to Miami. And if you weren’t going to be in Miami, you wanted it to be a major market like New York. Well, those things didn’t happen. And you ended up in Milwaukee and all the personal stuff is all his business. Damian, he’s a real one. Damian lives one of the great brothers, no doubt. So we ain’t here to talk about people’s personal business. We’re only bringing it up because he brought it up. And he talked about how his happiness was compromised. Well, how are you going to run that back?“
Stephen A. Smith is alluding to Lillard’s comments on DeMar DeRozan’s podcast Dinners with DeMar where he spoke about life after his trade to the Bucks.
“What made it hard is how I was dealing with it all at one time. Having to find the dates that I’m going to be with my kids, separating with my kids’ mom, and I’m getting traded. And there’s all these fake reports coming out…They never took into consideration what could be going on in my life. They don’t really care.”
But, Lillard also further clarified his statements on how he feels about the Bucks in a quote obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Seminal on April 19th.
“I saw somebody say ‘Dame is not happy in Milwaukee’ or something like that. I know the truth,” Lillard said. “I love the situation that I’m in. I also know what I have going on outside of basketball going on that kind of drains me at times. People are going to make comments. People are going to say things. And if it doesn’t go the way they said it was going to go, nobody is ever (going to) come to them and say ‘All right, you said this. Now what do you have to say about it?’ They are never held accountable for what they say publicly.”
Lillard also stepped up in the four games he played in this year’s playoffs. He was tasked with being the lead option on the team with Antetokoumpo out and he surely didn’t disappoint despite the series loss. He averaged 31.3 points and 5.0 assists in the four games he played against the Pacers this series.
It’s unsure what will occur in the offseason or if Lillard will be in a Bucks uniform come October. But, as long as Lillard continues to perform at a high level, Milwaukee will continue to contend.
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