BREAKING: Giannis' Bucks Get Lillard in 3-Team Trade; Mavs' Target Ayton to Blazers

The Dallas Mavericks had trade talks with the Phoenix Suns for Deandre Ayton on draft night earlier this year, but the former No. 1 overall pick is on his way to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of a 3-team blockbuster that also sends Damian Lillard to Giannis Antetokounmpo's Milwaukee Bucks.

Dalton Trigg | Sep 27, 2023

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At long last, the Damian Lillard trade saga is over, and despite his demands for the Portland Trail Blazers to trade him only to the Miami Heat, Portland's GM Joe Cronin opted to send his franchise star to a different Eastern Conference contender.

According to multiple reports, the Blazers have agreed to send Lillard to Giannis Antetokounmpo's Milwaukee Bucks as part of a three-team blockbuster that also includes Phoenix Suns big man – and former Dallas Mavericks trade target from July's NBA Draft – Deandre Ayton.

Here are the full details of the trade, provided by The Athletic's Shams Charania: Bucks receive: Damian Lillard. Blazers receive: Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, a 2029 first-round pick (Bucks) and a pick swap (Bucks). Suns receive: Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, Keon Johnson and Grayson Allen.

There's a new star duo in the Eastern Conference: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard on the Milwaukee Bucks / USA TODAY Sports

After Antetokounmpo hinted on multiple occasions this offseason that would consider leaving the Bucks when his current contract ends, the Milwaukee front office took swift action to shake things up and pair another star player in Lillard alongside the "Greek Freak."

Although the Mavs now seem content with starting the season with their current cast of centers, which includes promising rookie Dereck Lively II, Richaun Holmes and Dwight Powell, they reportedly had trade talks with the Suns for Ayton on the night of the draft in July. However, the Suns didn't like the Mavs' offer of Tim Hardaway Jr., Holmes and JaVale McGee, who has since been waived.

In theory, the Mavs could still try to pull off a trade for Atlanta Hawks' Clint Capela if they still want a veteran center presence aside from Powell and Holmes, but for now, Ayton is off the table ... and the Giannis-to-Dallas pipe-dream, which seemingly had new life a few weeks ago, could be dead once again.

Published Sep 27, 2023

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.