Bucks News: Damian Lillard Feels Milwaukee is Getting Overlooked Entering NBA Season

The eight-time All-Star point guard likes his revamped club's chances this year.

May 2, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) dribbles the ball during game six of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Eight-time All-Star Milwaukee Bucks point guard Damian Lillard likes his revamped club's chances this year, and feels the club is getting a short shrift from fans and pundits alike.

In fairness, Milwaukee has given the club plenty of reason to worry.

The Bucks fired first-time head coach Adrian Griffin, hired to appease All-NBA power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, midway through the 2023-24 season, replacing him with 2008 champ Doc Rivers, who quit his broadcasting gigs with ESPN and The Ringer for the opportunity. After blowing $102 million to re-sign a rapidly declining Khris Middleton last summer, the team saw the former three-time All-Star small forward once again miss major time with injury issues. The 33-year-old appears to have lost a step since his two-way prime. The Bucks' depth beyond their top six players looked atrocious, and the team failed to win 50 games for the first time in three years. An injury limited Antetokounmpo for the second straight postseason, this time for the entirety of Milwaukee's first round upset loss to the Indiana Pacers. Lillard also missed time during that series, suiting up for just four of the series' six games.

In a fresh conversation with Alex Squadron of Slam Online, the 6-foot-2 Weber State product reflected on how his addition to Milwaukee has already become old news, just one year in.

"Yeah, I think people are definitely [overlooking the Bucks], and that’s how the league is," Lillard said. "It’s like, on to the next thing. There are younger teams on the rise, you have teams that made big free agency moves, teams that made trades, all types of things took place. So obviously that’s going to be what’s sexy. When I got traded to Milwaukee, it was like, Oh, the Bucks gonna win! Everybody just jumped on it, you know? So when something major happens or something big happens for a team, especially if it’s already a good team, like of course [that’s the reaction]. Rightfully so, all of those types of teams are going to be mentioned at the top."

Lillard, 34, appears to have also regressed a bit athletically, but he can still score at a superstar level. Across 73 contests in 2023-24, Lillard averaged 24.3 points on .424/.354/.920 shooting splits, 7.0 dimes, 4.4 boards, and 1.0 swipes a night. He finished 11th in Clutch Player of the Year voting.

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