The T is for Tampering.
Damian Lillard has finally been traded by the Portland Trail Blazers, but he is not headed to the Miami Heat as long has been expected. Instead, the Milwaukee Bucks were able to work out a deal to get Giannis Antetokounmpo a new superstar teammate, sending Jrue Holiday, a pick, and a pair of swaps to Portland in a three-team deal that also sees Deandre Ayton go to the Blazers for Jusuf Nurkic and more.
It was a wild, shocking trade announcement — a true Woj Bomb that came from out of nowhere — and it has left everyone around the league trying to figure out exactly what the full fallout will be. The obvious loser of the trade is Miami, as the Heat had designs on forming a new Big 3 with Dame, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo, but were never able to close the deal in part because they didn’t have the right assets to send back to Portland or a third team.
