Milwaukee Bucks: Shocking Damian Lillard Move Leaves Team With Historically Large Dead Cap Space

While the team did add Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner in free agency, the money needed to make the move happen was made available by releasing Lillard. The star point guard, who was set to miss much of the upcoming season due to an Achilles tear in the 2025 postseason, is now off the roster.

Lillard had two years left on his deal, which was set to pay out in excess of $112 million. Instead of paying him over 50 million dollars per year, the Bucks have released him and used the “stretch provision” to spread out his salary over multiple seasons instead.

Milwaukee Bucks Hamstring Their Financial Future With Lillard Move

As detailed by ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the stretch provision makes Lillard’s salary pay period extend from two years to five years. For teams that use the provision, the affected player’s years left on the contract is multiplied by two and then added by one. In Lillard’s case, 2 x 2 + 1 = 5.

The $112 million is then spread out over those five years, meaning Lillard will make $22.5 million for each of the next five years despite not being on the team. The 22.5 figure equates to almost 15% of the salary cap, meaning the Bucks will be operating with 85% cap space for the next half a decade.

While use of the provision is quite common, the scale of the Lillard move is quite literally unprecedented. The previous record for the total cash stretched was a mere $27 million, which the Charlotte Hornets paid out to Nicolas Batum over three seasons, beginning in 2020. Here, the Bucks are willingly paying out more than quadruple that to Lillard over five seasons while still trying to be contenders in an improving eastern conference.

Lillard has not publicly commented on the move, but he is very likely quite unhappy and disappointed. For a player to whom loyalty means everything, the Bucks have now cut their second star after he fought back from a significant shoulder in order to return during the playoffs, only to blow out his Achilles.

While Bucks fans can still be excited for the addition of Turner, the Lillard move means that the team is not only coldly casting out Antetokounmpo’s running mate, but mortgaging a significant part of their financial future as well.