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Stephen A. Smith Believes Milwaukee Bucks Should Trade Key Player to Rebuild for 2024-25 Season

Originally posted on Hardwood Heroics
By Christian Alamodin | Last updated 5/4/24

This year’s postseason was a bitter one for the Milwaukee Bucks. Not only did they have to deal with the Indiana Pacers with Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined with an injury. Damian Lillard did his best to keep the team in contention, but he also had to sit out a couple of games.

They had no answers for the Pacers in Game 6, where Doc Rivers was stumped against Tyrese Haliburton and two of the team’s more underrated contributors. While Giannis’ absence has plenty to do with the team’s postseason struggles, tough questions still needed to be asked from the rest of the roster who failed to keep up with the Pacers.

One analyst believes that change is due for the Bucks, and even made a wild trade suggestion that—while intriguing—isnt going to happen any time soon.

Stephen A. Smith thinks the Milwaukee Bucks should trade Damian Lillard after trading for him in 2023

Stephen A. Smith is not averse to making controversial statements, but Milwaukee fans would probably protest at the idea of trading Lillard without even trying to see him play at least one full playoff series with Giannis.

However, he argues that age is the biggest contributing factor to the team considering to end their Giannis-Dame experiment early.

Per The Spun’s Chris Rosvoglou:

“My belief is they should trade Damian Lillard,” Smith said. “I know that’s going to be very difficult to do. I’m not questioning his greatness at all. When Damian Lillard is healthy, I believe in this brother. I don’t care how much he gets paid in today’s NBA economy. I think he’s spectacular, I believe in him.

“But there are two things that come to mind when it comes to Damian Lillard and why I said what I just said. They [the Bucks] are not young. He’s 34 and Giannis is 30. They’re getting older, they don’t have free agent capabilities, and they’re approaching the luxury tax. Their maneuverability is limited.

“The second thing, and I’m not making this up – Damian Lillard was on the record talking about how life was a bit rough being in Milwaukee. Clearly, that wasn’t his first choice. He wanted to be in Miami.”

It’s unlikely that the Bucks would just ship Lillard off because of SAS’ words. He’s been one of the team’s more effective players in spite of his age. He finished the regular season with a respectable 24.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 7.0 assists on 42.4% shooting and 35.4% from deep on 73 games.

However, if they do feel like it’s not going to work out with Lillard and Giannis, the Bucks could get some good value out of trading him in the summer.

This article first appeared on Hardwood Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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