LILLARD DIDN’T RAISE HELL AND GOT WHAT HE DEMANDED: A GIANNIS TANDEM

If the NBA’s best players must demand trades, Dame created a masterpiece while waiting for the Milwaukee Bucks, who can use his postseason magic deep into the Finals when it was lost in Portland

     The latest empowered darling had no interest in any spiritual realm, meaning NBA trade hell. He didn’t want internal chaos like James Harden, who called his boss “a liar,” and didn’t want the hassle of a three-deal facilitator such as Kevin Durant. All Damian Lillard wanted was to say goodbye to Portland, with lovely cheer, and finally get a chance to win a championship and throw his creative trickery elsewhere.

     He found his way, not going to Miami as Pat Riley desired. If we’d listened closely to Twitter last year, when he was asked which star he’d like to help win, Lillard said with one-word finality: “Giannis.” Other than one wild scene in Paris last June, where a DJ got wacky with a mix including Will Smith’s “Miami” and a song wanting to “feel the HEAT with somebody,” he waited for a city whose name brings love to a man with postseason flair. That would be Milwaukee, where Giannis Antetokounmpo wanted aid before leaving town himself and now has it in the form of Lillard, whose playoff joys won’t be wasted before the Finals.

     Remember his stepback 3-pointer as time expired in 2019, when he eliminated Oklahoma City from about 40 feet? Remember his 71-point outburst last season? Remember how he scored at least 50 points in 17 games? Now Lillard’s fantasies have moved the Bucks to consensus favorites to win the league title, past the defending champion Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns. Those are the best four operations this season, despite Golden State’s post-dynasty hopes and LeBron James’ wish for underdog freedom in Los Angeles. And as long as Lillard and Antetokounmpo discover a path to combine all-world talents, which shouldn’t be an issue with Adrian Griffin replacing Mike Budenholzer as coach, fans can greet the new Eastern Conference kings who should beat a Celtics group that overpaid Jaylen Brown with a $303.7 million supermax before having to pay more to Jayson Tatum.

     With Giannis, the Bucks already have won a title. With Lillard, how many more come with four seasons on his deal, when he’d be paid $216 million? You have an all-time scorer mixed with an all-time freak. This is truly the sighting of a video game. 

     Said the man named Dame: “The casuals won't be addressed but the trailblazers fans and city of Portland that I love truly will be ... and they will be addressed truthfully. Stay tuned. Excited for my next chapter! @Bucks.”

     In the process, the Bucks gave up guard Jrue Holiday a day after he said he wanted to conclude his career in Milwaukee. Also involved were the Suns, who shipped problematic center Deandre Ayton to Portland while hoping a less volatile big man, Jusuf Nurkic, will help a club that has Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal shooting the ball all season. Holiday is a serious player with two All-Star appearances, but Lillard is a seven-time All-NBA selection who will kill for a title. Never has a player scored 32.2 points per game before being dealt. While the Trail Blazers move to a younger team led by rookie Scoot Henderson, Lillard is 33 and joins a real contender in his 12th season.

     It should surprise no one that the Heat, who need offensive help after another bummer trip to the Finals, are pleading the NBA office to investigate the deal. What, did the Bucks throw in too much Wisconsin beer? Said star Jimmy Butler in a video on Instagram Story: “Yo NBA. Y’all need to look into the Bucks for tampering. Y’all do. Just gonna put that out there. Ya’ll Didn’t hear it from me, but I hear it through somebody. Y’all look at them for tampering.”

     How would that be? If Portland says no to a deal, it’s a no. The Blazers said yes to the Bucks. And though Lillard might enjoy the South Florida weather better, who doesn’t think he has a better championship shot in Milwaukee?

     So the league season has begun. LeBron is still around, for maybe one final time as his son recovers from a congenital heart defect, but this is about a team eyeing up Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray for the goods. Over the summer, Antetokounmpo told the New York Times that he might leave if the Bucks weren’t committed to another title.

     His question was answered.

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     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.