Lillard is the biggest winner when he was slashed in cold blood?

Shortly after the free market began, the Bucks signed a four-year, 107 million contract with Miles Turner without warning. It was originally expected that the Bucks would not have enough room to eat Turner, but the management chose to cut Lillard and allocate the remaining 113 million in his contract to pay for the next five years, making enough room for Turner.

Before discussing the Bucks, let's first look at the NBA's sharing mechanism: instead of paying Lillard's 54.1 million this season and 58.6 million next season, the Bucks chose to share these amounts over the next five years to reduce the team's total salary in the 2025-26 season.

A rough calculation shows that Lillard will be able to receive 22.5 million yuan a year in the next five years, and even do nothing, as long as he doesn't play for the Bucks. In short, he can still get money without playing games for any team at all.

Of course, it is probably unlikely that he would choose to do so. He will recover for the next year while deciding where his next stop will go. Now, his huge salary is no longer a problem. As long as he is willing, the entire league will open the door to him. He can even choose to sign other teams with a basic salary, because the Bucks will give him tens of millions every year, and for Lillard, he will basically not lose anything.

According to reporters, Lillard was not disappointed with the sudden change in his slaughter. From a future perspective, this is not surprising. Before that, Lillard was trapped in the Bucks, facing a team that was gradually deteriorating. After being slashed, even though he was abandoned by the Bucks, he got a greater chance of choosing in a trance.

So the problem arose, where will Lillard's next stop be?

CBSsports reporter Sam Quinn listed five potential teams for Lillard's new next home:

Portland Trail Blazers (back to where the dream began)

Miami Heat (the next one he wanted to be traded the most)

Denver Nuggets (partner with Jokic, serving as a substitute by Murray)

Cleveland Cavaliers (the team with a high chance of winning the championship)

Minnesota Timberwolves (acted as starting point guard, paired with superstars and defensive system)

Beyond this prediction list, Lillard has other options. He can wait until Tatum recovers from injury and become the defender helper around Twin Tanhua; or join the Magic that the defender lacks strength; or the Rockets, who have superstars and stable systems like the Timberwolves. Even the Golden State Warriors, which is Lillard's hometown team; or the young Spurs, who can become the substitute behind Fox and partner with Wenban Yama to start the championship.

Fans can discuss this issue for a long time. It is indeed difficult for Lillard to be taken over with a 50 million yuan, but if he is a Lillard with a basic salary level or close to the basic salary, he may be the most valuable recruiting force in the NBA. No team would reject Lillard at this price, and now it depends on how he will choose.

From Lillard's perspective, some fans may think that he was sacked after he was injured and suffered a major Achilles tendon injury. The management is too cold-blooded, but from another perspective, it has to be said that we should thank the Bucks for this wave of kind and righteous operations. They will have to bear a huge salary burden in the next five years and pay a player who is not in the team of up to 113 million yuan. Even if they win Turner in the offseason, it will be difficult for the Bucks to ensure that they can win the championship next season, and even Antetokounmpo. Now it may not be guaranteed that he will choose to stay in the team 100%.

We must first figure out one thing that Turner is indeed a very good player, but his joining may not be able to completely compensate for Lillard's departure, and even the salary pressure brought by Lillard's salary sharing. If the Bucks have chosen to pay a huge price for the future, they will need to exchange for at least one new signing at the superstar level. But Turner's value is truly impossible to support the huge pressure brought by this bill.

Of course, from the perspective of team operations, the Bucks deserve recognition. They have always been bold enough to build a championship lineup. Fans are always criticizing teams that have superstars but are unwilling to strive for the championship. But the Bucks are never like this. They have made three major operations in the Antetokounmpo era. For the sake of the current championship, they chose to leave all the risks in the future behind.

They started with Holiday. Although the deal cost the Bucks a huge price, they won the championship, and this result could make up for it. But when the championship boom began to fade, rumors of Antetokounmpo's departure came again, and the Bucks made a big deal to Lillard. Although the deal had failed, judging from the situation at that time, this was the best choice the Bucks could do.

and then the third trade, the Bucks aimed at Miles Turner. Although this reinforcement is high-quality enough, looking at the current Eastern Conference, even if many top-level teams withdraw from the championship competition next season, even if Antetokounmpo stays successfully next season, Turner's joining will not make the Bucks directly turn into a real championship-level team.

Now, the Bucks bet on all their remaining chips, and they may only be able to win a top four in the Eastern Conference, or even a fifth seed, and then stop the Eastern Conference Finals in the playoffs, or an embarrassing ending in the second round. So, what will happen to them in the future? It is a very unpredictable direction.

Lillard seems to be treated coldly, but in fact he is the final winner. He has escaped the quagmire of the stags, and now the only suspense is where he will choose!