Milwaukee Bucks Jump To NBA Title Favorites After Damian Lillard Trade

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It wasn't Damian Lillard's preferred destination. But, the Milwaukee Bucks are the favorites to win the 2023-24 NBA title after a mega, 3-team trade for Lillard. The Bucks needed to get the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers involved to make the deal work.

As usual, the biggest NBA story heading into the season was if Portland was going to honor Lillard's trade request. Reportedly, Lillard wanted to take his talents to South Beach to play with the defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat.

I do agree with the Bucks being the NBA championship favorites. Milwaukee has the size to frustrate Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. With Lillard in the fold, the Bucks now have one of the best shotmakers in the NBA that can take pressure off of Giannis.

Milwaukee Bucks swoop in for Damian Lillard

Under the radar, Milwaukee's front office put together a package to steal Lillard away from the Heat. Loyalty is dead in the NBA. The Bucks needed to shake things up to keep two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo happy.

Former Trail Blazers PG Damian Lillard with Milwaukee Bucks PF Giannis Antetokounmpo contesting a possible putback at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.

Former Trail Blazers PG Damian Lillard with Milwaukee Bucks PF Giannis Antetokounmpo contesting a possible putback at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. (Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports)

Furthermore, let's not sleep on the other moving parts of this trade. Portland added 2018 NBA Draft No. 1 overall pick C Deandre Ayton and PG Jrue Holiday.

Granted, the Trail Blazers are already working to send Holiday elsewhere. But, Ayton has untapped potential and the Trail Blazers are stacked with young ball handlers to fit around Ayton.

Also, the Suns were perhaps the most top-heavy team in the NBA. Now, Phoenix has role players to help out Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal. The Suns picked up another offensive big (Jusuf Nurkic), an athletic wing (Nassir Little) and a floor spacer (Grayson Allen).

Despite the epic-ness of this trade, I'm not pulling out my wallet to be on any of these teams. You can get good odds for NBA title futures mid-season after seeing how these new rosters look together.

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Geoff Clark serves as OutKick’s sports betting guru. As a writer and host of OutKick Bets with Geoff Clark, he dives deep into the sports betting landscape and welcomes an array of sports betting personalities on his show to handicap America’s biggest sporting events. Previously, Clark was a writer/podcaster for USA TODAY's Sportsbook Wire website, handicapping all the major sports tentpoles with a major focus on the NFL, NBA and MLB. Clark graduated from St. John University.