What does Damian Lillard mean for the NBA?

Damian Lillard has been traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Milwaukee Bucks, leaving NBA fans wondering what next season is going to look like.

Lillard is one of the leagues premier players, boasting 32 PPG last season, and now having linked up with Giannis Antetokounmpo, the discourse of NBA fans would suggest that they believe this years championship is all wrapped up.

How does this trade make the Bucks a bigger threat than their 2021 championship season?

Adding Lillard to the mix has given the Bucks a new dimension they didn’t previously have. The Bucks, although having some good shooters, have never been a shooting team. The Bucks have only ever been afforded space on the perimeter due to their two big men inside, Giannis and Brooke Lopez.

Khris Middleton has been a solid spot-up shooter, but now with the addition of Lillard, the Bucks Perimeter offence is looking far more dangerous. Lillard is one of the best three-point shooters in NBA history, and is the best shooter from deep downtown in history. This stretches defences massively.

Giannis was the Bucks previous danger man, however, with the addition of Lillard, teams can no longer pack the paint and double team on Giannis. Teams used to pack the lane with big men and assign their guards to double team Giannis, blocking the entry pass into him.

This tactic will now be devastating for teams to employe, as Lillard has no issue making contested shots from deep, so leaving Lillard open to shoot will just see him put up regular 40 or 50 point games. Lillard had a historic game last season, scoring 71, because the defence refused to step up on him and kept giving Lillard clean looks from deep. Lillard will have no issues replicating this in a Bucks jersey.

How will this trade impact team chemistry?

A big concern whenever these trades are made is how this will impact the chemistry of a team. Having two superstars on one team is by no means a guarantee of a championship. This has been seen many times recently, being the Dallas Mavericks getting worse when they added Kyrie Irving to compliment Luka Doncic, or the Phoenix Suns inability to get out of the west even with the addition of Kevin Durant.

However, I do not believe this to be a concern for the Bucks. Although Lillard is a heavily ball dominate figure, Giannis is happy to operate without the ball, and does not need it to dramatically impact the game.

Giannis can easily average 25 and 10 a night from put backs and fast breaks. Giannis will also benefit from the defensive gravity that Lillard will create. Giannis has played against constant double teams for the last 4 seasons, especially in the playoffs. The addition of Lillard to this team will drastically reduce the amount that teams can afford to attempt to double team Giannis.

How will his trade impact the Bucks on defence?

The only down side of this trade to the Bucks is how it impacts them on defence. Lillard is not a strong defensive player, and the Bucks have given up a good defender, Jrue Holiday, for this trade.

The Bucks exterior defence has suffered as a consequence of this trade, but Lillard will be playing alongside Middleton, who is a strong defensive player, so it is not a major drop.

The Bucks also boast one of the best interior defensives in the league, having the former two-time defensive player of the year (DPOY) winner Giannis at the four, and Lopez at the five. Lopez has proved himself to be a very accomplished rim-protector as well, and this pairing minimises the defensive drop-off caused by this trade.