Damian Lillard changed the odds entirely on his chances of winning the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship when he decided to play with the Milwaukee Bucks this upcoming season. By making this decision, he has joined 2 Time NBA Most Valuable Player and one-time NBA Champion Giannis Antetokounmpo to pair for one of the most dominant offenses in the league.
Lillard has come a long way; however, he has been loyal to the organization he was drafted to in 2012, the Portland Trailblazers. Unlike other teams in the NBA, who would have tried to develop and trade for better players to give a surrounding background, they put all the pressure onto Lillard to carry them to the playoffs season after season. We know this is true as he has only played with one all-star player for all 11 seasons that he has played for the Trailblazers, (Lamarcus Aldridge). This trade was foreshadowed during the 2023 All-Star Draft Selection. Antetokounmpo would select Lillard first over every other All-Star Reserve.
These two players will affect the NBA differently in comparison to past duos. This is due to their ability to space out the floor equally. Usually, when two good players come together to play on the same team, they have similar strengths, such as Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, who can both shoot from far or Paul George and Kahwi Leonard, who have an excellent mid-range. However, this causes a problem in the offense; as there isn’t much spacing on the court, and it ends up being each player taking turns to try and score. Lillard and Antetokounmpo have opposing scoring abilities. Since Damian Lillard is such an efficient threat from beyond the three-point line, it forces defenses to play high on him. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the complete opposite, as he causes the opposing team to help when he is closer to the rim because of his height and ability to score from that range. Duos like this usually go far in the playoffs, possibly even winning the championship. We have seen this from players such as Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, who would win three consecutive championships together, or even Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokić, who won the past 2022-2023 NBA finals. As long as the two all-star caliber players stay healthy without injury, then there is a good chance that they could potentially become the next NBA final’s champions.
