Damian Lillard discusses how Bucks unleash new facet of his game

Lillard himself admitted that life in Milwaukee has been very different compared to his time with the Portland Trail Blazers. In particular, Lillard has not had to force the issue on the offensive end with guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, among others, available.

Lillard has also found himself open much more with the Bucks as opposed to being the focal point of opposing defenses while he played the role of Portland’s cornerstone superstar. Now, opponents tend to collapse on Giannis more, thereby leaving Lillard with more time and space than he’s been accustomed to.

For his part, Lillard has made sure to take advantage of the opportunities:

“I’ve seen it with a lot of players that go to a new team and then there’s things that they do that they’re showing that you probably didn’t see before based on the personnel of the team, they did other things,” Lillard told Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It’s just to stretch myself to do other things to still help instead of doing the things I’ve always done. I’ll still do those things, because I’ll do what makes me, me. But it’s an opportunity to stretch myself.”

Lillard was an absolute beast during his time with the Blazers, which was despite opposing defenses giving them their best shot every single night. The fact that he’s a seven-time All-NBA guard and a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team is living proof of this notion.

He’s still that same monster now that he’s with the Bucks — albeit a year or so older — but it’s just that they don’t need him to carry the team on a nightly basis. Make no mistake about it, though, Lillard is still very much capable of doing so when necessary.