“He was a fraud”: Notorious analyst rips Damian Lillard to shreds after massive move to create ‘super team’ in Milwaukee
After months of suspense, Damian Lillard was ultimately sent to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team deal. “Dame” demanded to be traded to the Miami Heat after professing his loyalty to the Portland Trail Blazers. Lillard also said that he didn’t want to form a super team for a chance to win the NBA championship. He just needed to have a legitimate chance of winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin told the media he was willing to play the long game and only trade Lillard for the right return. He did get the kind of ransom he was looking for and shipped “Dame” to a bonafide title challenger.
Analyst Ticket, on the “Fluent & Chill” podcast, had this to say about Damian Lillard playing alongside two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo:
“I’ve been told y’all he was a fraud since he was out there saying he was loyal to the team, to the soil [Portland], he didn’t want no part of a super team. I’ve been told y’all that dude was a fraud.
“Yes, it’s a super team [Bucks]! They got two superstars and a perennial All-Star. If I want to live in Miami, all I wanna do is see them pretty mommies down in Miami all day. It ain’t about winning because if it was about winning, that means, we gotta gut out all of the roster, all of the role players that they got left.
Damian Lillard may have landed in a better spot with the Milwaukee Bucks than he arguably would have been with the Miami Heat. Milwaukee gave up Grayson Allen, Jrue Holiday and draft picks for Lillard. Miami was reportedly going to ship Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kyle Lowry, Caleb Martin, Duncan Robinson and picks to get “Dame.”
On paper, the Bucks are a much better team than the Heat. But, Jimmy Butler and crew proved last season that strength on paper doesn’t automatically translate on the court. Still, most analysts think a new “Beast in the East” has been formed with the partnership of Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Damian Lillard may not have wanted to play for a super team but will end up suiting for one when the season opens.
Ticket criticizes Damian Lillard for failing to get the job done with the Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers received a ton of backlash for not building a championship-caliber team around Damian Lillard. Rip City has reached the playoffs in 8-11 seasons with Lillard. The best they could do was reach the Western Conference finals in 2019 when they were swept by the Golden State Warriors.
Instead of blaming the Trail Blazers front office, Ticket had this to say about Portland’s postseason performances during Lillard’s tenure with the team:
“His job is to not get smoked by Klay Thompson in the playoffs. It’s his job to not lose when Steph Curry is missing half the dang on the series. It’s his job not to get locked up by Jrue Holiday when they had homecourt advantage against the Pelicans.
“It’s his job to get them past the Denver Nuggets when they didn’t have Jamal Murray. It’s his job to close out one or two of those games when you’re playing against the Warriors and you’re up 18-16 points almost every single game in that series.
Damian Lillard will have his detractors regardless of where he plays. Now that he’s with the Milwaukee Bucks, a legit championship contender, the scrutiny will be even more intense. He will not hear the end of it if he fails to win a title with his new team.