Ranking every Bucks player based on how they performed in 2023-24 season

2. Damian Lillard

Lillard's first year in Milwaukee wasn't a dream one. Not a bad one either, it was really far from that, but you could feel things weren't working perfectly.

He had some amazing games, played well in the clutch and added another dimension to the Bucks' offense that was really needed. But he was also a bit more inconsistent than his previous years in Portland, maybe because the trade happened quite late, and he didn't have time to fit. Maybe it was because of some personal stuff he had going on. His season was good, but it wasn't great. A bit more bittersweet than expected.

However, the playoffs were the moment for him to shine. If the Bucks wanted to be a 55-win team in the regular season, they would have kept Jrue Holiday and Mike Budenholzer. Lillard was brought to raise the team's ceiling in the playoffs, so it wasn't really fair to judge him until that time came. And when it did, he delivered big time.

He had a historic first half in Game 1, basically winning the game on his own in 24 minutes, and was also great in Game 2 despite the loss. But then, as apparently it was meant to happen this year for the Bucks, injuries struck again. He really struggled at the end of Game 3, missed the next two games, and rushed it back in Game 6, where he, despite being noticeably in pain, ended up with 28 points.

So, if he was able to play like this while being injured and with Giannis Antetokounmpo out, we can feel pretty optimistic about him in the future.

If the front office does good work this summer, he will probably find a team where he fits better next year, and he will also have some more time to work with his teammates before the season starts. This hasn't been a great year for him if compared with his peak in Portland, but it has been much better in the context of a first contact. Now, we can expect him to be better. And that, given how impactfull he's been, it's really exciting.