Milwaukee Bucks news: The Portland Trail Blazers have been extremely busy of late. After a rather uneventful past few months, Portland made two blockbuster trades in the span of a couple of days. The first one came in the form of Damian Lillard moving on to the Bucks, followed shortly after by Jrue Holiday being shipped off to the Boston Celtics.
It’s going to be a very interesting season ahead for Portland, to say the least.
Blazers Players React to Damian Lillard’s Move to Milwaukee Bucks
It has been a long time coming, but we can now finally say that the Dame era in Portland has ended. Lillard had an iconic run in his 11 years with the organization, and he will forever be regarded as one of the greatest players to ever put on the Blazers uniform.
Dame’s now-former Blazers teammates have spoken out about his stunning move to Milwaukee. For his part, Anfernee Simons is still having issues coming to terms with the fact that his mentor is now a Buck:
“It didn’t look right at all,” Simons said, via beat reporter Sean Highkin. “But everybody has to deal with change at some point.
“… When someone like Dame leaves who’s made a big impact on your life and your career, it’s harder than any other teammate leaving. He was the last one of the group. Now we turn the page. I’m excited about this year and the opportunity I have.”
Blazers forward Jerami Grant also admits that he was taken by surprise by this move. At the same time, however, his history in the NBA has also taught him to cope with these kinds of situations:
“It’s a part of the business. Gotta keep moving forward regardless,” Grant said.
“It’s definitely a shock. It’s definitely different. This is my fifth team in 10 years, so I’m accustomed to change. [General Manager Joe Cronin] and [team owner Jody Allen] have been doing a great job. I’m fine.”
Right now, the Blazers are expected to build around No. 3 overall pick Scoot Henderson. This young man has some incredibly big shoes to fill, but at this point, the 19-year-old just wants to be his own man:
“Just because people think I have to be the new Dame, I don’t even think like that. I’m Scoot Henderson,” he said.
Chauncey Billups Speaks Out
Blazers head Coach Chauncey Billups also shared his reaction to the trade during Portland’s media availability session on Monday. The former five-time All-Star wishes nothing but the best for Dame:
“Dame’s in a position where he’s on the best team he’s ever been on. I’m really excited for him,” Billups said.
The Blazers shot-caller has no doubt that regardless of the fact that he is no longer a member of the team, Lillard will still be held in very high regard by the Portland faithful:
“I’m sure all our fans secondarily will be Bucks fans this year and be rooting for him, except when he plays us,” Billups said. “Hopefully he’ll have a statue out here one day.”
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