On episode 288 of The Atlantic Files, Damian Lillard is traded to the Milwaukee Bucks and joins Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday heads to the Boston Celtics, we break down all of the trade pieces, and then we put together all of our divisional previews for one big preview episode!
Finally, we get a resolution to the Damian Lillard saga that has gone on for months. He's on his way to join Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks to form a super-duo. Question marks still exist with this team's health like that of Khris Middleton. Also, the team as a whole is getting older and older, so their window to win another championship is very short. Will the new coach lead them back to the promised land?
Another side of the trade was moving Jrue Holiday to Portland who then was moved to Boston. The Trail Blazers got some more assets out of it while Holiday moved to another Eastern Conference contender. His fit in Boston is perfect as he replaces the role that Marcus Smart vacated. With the addition of Holiday, however, that improves the offense in ways that Smart was unable to.
To wrap up this week's episode, we stitched together all of our divisional previews from the past six weeks to bring one big preview episode. Let us know what you think of each division and who you have winning each one to make the playoffs this year!
Timecodes:
00:01:51 - Damian Lillard traded to Milwaukee
00:10:40 - Jrue Holiday traded to Boston
00:20:15 - 2023-24 NBA Central Division preview
00:31:44 - 2023-24 NBA Atlantic Division preview
00:42:00 - 2023-24 NBA Southeast Division preview
01:01:25 - 2023-24 NBA Pacific Division preview
01:10:55 - 2023-24 NBA Northwest Division preview
01:24:48 - 2023-24 NBA Southwest Division preview