A new Portland Trail Blazers era was officially ushered in on September 27 last year when Damian Lillard was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. While the unofficial end likely occurred when Scoot Henderson was drafted in June, it wasn’t until the spring that we could all move on.
Those three months featured the almost-daily rigmarole of whether Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin would cave and send the then seven-time All Star to the Miami Heat. Or stand fast, waiting for a better offer to come across his desk.
The latter prevailed and Cronin’s patience paid off when the Bucks emerged as a suitor, willing to give up real assets in return for a player posited by many, as the franchise’s greatest ever.
Thanks to the Bucks, the Phoenix Suns and later the Boston Celtics, the Blazers arguably snared the best possible package while also sending the point guard to a good situation.
Today we take a look at how each of the four teams involved made out this season with their respective hauls.
The Pieces
While Lillard was rightly the headline of the two-stage transaction, there were nine other players, three first round picks and two first round swaps dealt over the course of four days.
On September 27, the Suns shipped out Deandre Ayton and Toumani Camara, the Bucks parted with Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen, a future first and two pick swaps. The Blazers obviously sent out Lillard as well as Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson.
On October 1, Holiday was re-routed to the Celtics for Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams III, a future Boston pick and a Golden State Warriors pick, which will go to the Blazers at selection 14 later this month.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics advanced to the 2024 NBA Finals earlier this week and will now face the Dallas Mavericks as the try to capture their first championship in 16 years.
The Celtics finished with a league-best 64-18 record, driven by a core of Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford.
Holiday has been a key part of Boston’s dominant 2023-24 campaign. He’s partnered perfectly with White, to form one of the league’s best two-way backcourts.
The fact that the Blazers chose to deal Lillard to the Bucks in exchange for Holiday and picks was brilliant. While not necessarily the player that Lillard is, Holiday has been proven to be the ultimate Lillard stopper.
As such, Holiday proved to be as sought after as Lillard, if not moreso by the Bucks’ Eastern Conference foes. There’s no surprise the dogged defender found himself in New England before the start of the season.
In the end, through injury and inconsistency, the Bucks didn’t go past the first round so we never got our Holiday vs Lillard rematch. Holiday has thrived in Celtic green, making this year’s All Defense second team, finishing sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
During the season, he averaged 12.5 points on 42.9 percent from three, 5.4 boards, 4.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.8 blocks. Through 14 playoff games, Holiday has put up 12.7 points on 39.7 percent three point shooting, 5.6 boards, 4.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.6 blocks.
Despite having to part with the two picks, Brogdon and Williams III, the move was a no-brainer for Boston who gained an elite two-way guard to help with a real title push.
Milwaukee Bucks
In order to secure Lillard, the Bucks parted with their last remaining draft assets, Holiday and Grayson Allen who finished the season as the NBA’s best three point shooter.
Milwaukee clearly got the best player in the deal, but Lillard’s first season in Milwaukee has been anything but triumphant. His arrival did, however, prompt Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign an extension with the Bucks, ensuring Greek forward would remain with the franchise for a little bit longer.
Playing support to Antetokounmpo, Lillard understandably saw drops in production. But his efficiency — something that shouldn’t have been effected by his teammates — took a hit with his three point rate dropping from 37.1 percent in 2022-23 to 35.4 percent in 2023-24. His points per shot attempt also fell from 1.296 in 2022-23 and second among point guards to 1.196 and ninth this past season.
More concerning was his drop in effective field goal percentage from 56.6 percent and ninth among point guards in 2022-23 to 51.0 percent and 29th last season. His corner three percentage plummeted from 37.2 percent and 26th among point guards in 2022-23 to 29.7 percent and 42st in 2023-24.
But the disappointing season may have been a symptom of larger issues within the franchise. The Bucks hired and fired Adrian Griffin within months before hastily bringing in Doc Rivers. Injuries to Antetokounmpo, Lillard and Khris Middleton resulted in inconsistency and may have also prevented the playing group from meshing.
Rivers now has a full summer to implement his style of play, the players can get healthy and become better acquainted with each other’s games.
But it better happen fast. While Antetokounmpo is not yet, 30, Lillard, Middleton and Brook Lopez are all in their 30s and all with notable injury histories. Lillard’s deal is only going to get more expensive as the ageing roster pushes forward.
Trading for Lillard was a win-now move, but it also meant that they were forced to part with Holiday who had been a proven piece in the franchise’s 2020-21 championship run.
All things considered, the Bucks probably made the right deal, but we’re yet to see the fruits of the move.
Phoenix Suns
The Suns were the first team ousted from this year's NBA Playoffs, swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves. They still hold three gargantuan contracts in Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, with the remaining cap sheet made up of Nurkic, Allen, Little and minimum deals.
Despite owner Mat Ishbia’s assertion that 26 other teams would trade their roster for the Suns’ roster, there’s not much to be excited about in Arizona.
Before last year’s trade, the Suns seemed destined to end their relationship with Ayton after selecting him with the first pick six years ago. Then little-known, recently selected Camara was also included in the deal with many a Blazers fan crying “who?”.
In return, Phoenix secured Nurkic, Little and Johnson in the deal as well as Allen who finished with a league-best 46.1 percent three point percentage on 5.9 attempts.
Nurkic was serviceable but probably still a downgrade on Ayton. The Bosnian put up 10.9 points, 11.0 boards, 4.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks.
As the Suns attempt to re-tool the roster it may be Nurkic’s contract that gives them the only real money to trade that’s not Durant or Booker.
Unfortunately, Little was never able to secure steady rotation minutes, registering career lows in points, boards and assists while Johnson finished the season with the Brooklyn Nets.
The Suns are very much in a worse position, purely for the fact that they’re no closer to a title and are severely restricted in bettering their situation.
Portland Trail Blazers
The Blazers gave up the biggest asset and received the biggest return, taking back players and picks from the other three franchises.
Despite what some people might think about Ayton’s deal, none of the assets the Blazers received should be considered negative. When it comes to the future picks, the Blazers have attractive pieces they can either use or put before trade partners when they’re ready to contend again.
Camara showed that he is a legit rotation-level defensive NBA forward who, despite being a slightly older rookie, still has room to improve his game, particularly on offense.
Ayton showed us what he was capable of after the All Star break. His final 20 games produced averages of 21.6 points on 58.9 percent from the field, 12.3 boards, 1.6 assists, 1.0 steal and 0.7 blocks. An improvement on his season numbers of 16.7 points on 57.0 from the field, 11.1 boards, 1.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks.
I have no issue thinking of him as this franchise’s future at center, but whether that happens remains to be seen.
Brogdon was exactly as billed and will no doubt fetch the Blazers another first round pick when he’s eventually moved. Williams III played only six games but if he’s able to get healthy, he’ll also be able to bring back more assets in a trade.
The Blazers will continue to collect picks originating from the Lillard trade. Something that would never have occurred if they’d taken the reported Heat package of Tyler Herro and two first round picks.
It’s probably hard to guess what the deal will do for the Blazers in the long term, but I think it’s fair to say they secured the maximum possible value for Lillard in mid-to-late 2024. Now it’s time to use them in a way that helps this franchise really compete in the long run.
Conclusion
As far as winners are concerned, you probably have to give to the Celtics right now. Boston is heading to the NBA Finals as favorites with Jrue Holiday set to play a significant role.
The Blazers should be more than happy with their haul but let’s not count our chickens just yet. What we do know is that they have a starting center in Ayton and above-average defender in Camara and two other players that should bring back more assets. Watch this space.
The Bucks still have a lot to prove and they need to do it fast before their ageing roster ages out. It was still the right move for them so you have to give General Manager Jon Horst a passing mark. But this team has to win a championship and soon for the deal to have paid off.
I’m not sure anyone would trade places with the Suns right now. They’re clearly the worst-off of the four. But, when you’ve got Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on your squad you can never be completely counted out.
Pundits will no doubt return to the trade in the months and years to come, if only just to measure how far the assets the Blazers received have taken them.
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