There's no better way than to just rip the band-aid off. All offseason long, there was a lot of speculation about when the Portland Trail Blazers would trade Damian Lillard. The star point guard requested a trade earlier after 11 years with the team. With a lot of years left on his contract, though, there was a possibility, however slim, that Portland could just keep up.

Finally, though, the Blazers pulled the trigger. In a blockbuster three-team trade, the Blazers traded Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team affair with the Phoenix Suns. In return, Portland got a whole bunch of picks, along with Jrue Holiday and DeAndre Ayton. At least one former player was pleased about this: ex-Timberwolves and Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, who had this to say.

“Real shyt… Portland did right by Dame. The basketball Godz gonna repay 10 fold! Good morning y’all 🤝🏾”

There was a lot of pressure on the Blazers to trade Lillard to his most-preferred destination: the Miami Heat. The common sentiment was that it was “the right thing to do”, after Lillard's loyalty to the club. However, it seemed like Portland didn't like what Miami had to offer. The Heat were unwilling to trade Bam Adebayo or Jimmy Butler, and Tyler Herro did not seem like a needle-mover.

This was the next-best thing that Portland could do: still send Dame to an Eastern Conference titan for him to compete while still getting proper compensation. The Blazers' next moves are likely trading Jrue Holiday to an interested party for more draft capital in the following years.