Insider: Bucks haven't discussed a Damian Lillard trade

The Bucks (2-8) are off to their worst start since Giannis Antetokounmpo's rookie season in 2013-14. With minimal draft assets and an aging roster of players on expensive contracts, Milwaukee has limited options to upgrade the roster. 

Brook Lopez, 36, is on an expiring contract of $23M but is a shell of the player who helped the team win a title in 2021. Khris Middleton, 33, has missed 99 games over the last three seasons with injuries and has yet to be cleared to return. Bobby Portis, 29, has some trade value but isn't going to fetch the franchise a difference-maker of a player. 

As such, the nuclear option might be to trade Damian Lillard, who, despite his recent struggles, is viewed around the league as an impact player. 

So have the Bucks called teams about a trade involving Lillard? According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, Milwaukee is actively shopping members of its roster but not its co-stars, Lillard and Antetokounmpo.

"I was talking to people in the league about the Bucks and I started hearing from people who were saying to me, 'You know the Bucks called us about trades.' And I go, 'About who?' [They said] 'Not Giannis and not Dame,'" Windhorst revealed on Monday's episode of "The Hoop Collective" podcast. 

When asked by podcast co-host Tim McMahon if Lillard, 34, was still coveted around the league, Windhorst responded in the affirmative.

"There would be interest, sir," Windhorst responded.

Lillard is under contract for two more years but has a player option worth $58M ahead of the 2026-27 season. The team that trades for him would be getting his services for three full seasons, meaning the Bucks could have some leverage in trade talks. Lillard will be 37 at the start of the final year of his deal.

Milwaukee's other nuclear option could be to trade Antetokounmpo and thereby blow up the roster. However, Marc Stein reported on Sunday that the Bucks won't trade "The Greek Freak" unless he asks out.