That Old Turnpike, And I’m Gonna Ride

Once upon a time, the Bucks dressed so fine. They threw some dimes in their prime, sure, but: they acquired an all-time player who led them to a championship, and they may have done it again. Didn’t you?

Real quick: do you know how old Big O was when the Bucks traded for him? 31, going on 32. That Bucks team was one, subsequently equipped with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar just before he unleashed himself, and an Oscar Robertson all the way turned down from what his teams had been giving him. He was a player awaiting a title.

Right now, Damian Lillard is 33 – a young and capable 33 and coming off the best season off his career, and it seems unfit to doubt him, BUT! – he’s 33. You go to parties and hear success stories of people in your field at 26, and you want to destroy them politely. This is aging, politely. Thank you Damian Lillard.

You can’t destroy them politely. They’re better and more cordial and all that “Losing My Edge” rot that had you caring about things much earlier, and now much later, than you ever should have.

A little while back, I defended Damian Lillard’s right to just exist, largely because I was tired of piss-poor trade machine screencaps and also because he had always defended his right to be there. Why did I use the Unit Circle to visualize this idea? I don’t know. I’ve been confused many times before and expect to be many times after this.

The trade happened quickly, and, at least thus far, nobody that I track or know personally had any idea that it was coming. Subsequent trades may follow, but essentially it’s this:

-The Blazers receive: Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, Milwaukee’s 2029 unprotected first-round draft pick, and unprotected Milwaukee swap rights in 2028 and 2030.

-The Suns receive: Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson.

-The Bucks receive: Damian Lillard, the last ex-Blazer to have appeared on Portlandia as an active player.

Suddenly, the Phoenix Suns re-shoot themselves to the forefront of the Western Conference. They have a bench now! By the way: everyone should be scared of the Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker has been reading all of this and is watching with intent. Catch every nationally-televised Suns game that you can; for once, I’m sure Charles Barkley will be as excited as I am about those 10-10:30 pm EST games on Inside.

Simultaneously, the Blazers have added the defensive presence (apologies, Nurk) that they lacked while maintaining something like a timeline that befits preseason 2028 Western Conference Finals consideration. The Blazers were in the driver’s seat for acceleration, and this should help them make strides toward actual playoff contention, now and beyond. (Have you seen Anfernee Simons play? Waiting for Scoot Henderson!)

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks have done two things: they have stabilized Giannis’s need for a teammate with a winning pedigree while also addressing the hands-on basketball that needs to happen: Giannis won with Jrue, but injuries and gameplans and Mike Budenholzer’s lack of creativity have gotten in the way of that since 2021.

Giannis + Dame is a fever dream. Will this work? Yes, beyond our wildest dreams, and I cannot wait to watch it. Will it work to their wildest dreams? These are questions best left to Travis Kelce (or rather, to Jason). In any case, knowing the relationship betwixt Dame and Giannis, we do know: it’s nice to have a friend.