Damian Lillard received word of his new destination shortly after 11 a.m. PST Wednesday.

Lillard was speechless. A few minutes later, he briefly explained what he was feeling.

"I'm just letting it sink in," Lillard told Bleacher Report minutes after news broke that he was going to be a member of the Milwaukee Bucks. "I'm just trying to process it all. It's a lot to think about. Never been in this situation before."

Where he was going—and where he wasn't going—was a shock to the basketball world, but it wasn't necessarily a shock to Lillard considering how the previous few months had gone.

Since July, the Portland Trail Blazers had refused to engage with the Miami Heat, the preferred destination Lillard requested when he asked for a trade on July 1 from the Blazers.

"How this summer played out behind the scenes definitely left a sour taste in my mouth," Lillard told B/R. "But it doesn't change the amazing experiences I've had with the Trail Blazers and this city. I'll always cherish this place. This is my home. I'll always live here regardless."

Prior to Lillard's trade request, Portland had publicly and privately vowed to do everything in its power to build a title contender around the seven-time All-Star. But he believed their actions and moves—or lack thereof—indicated the franchise wanted to undergo a rebuild.

Getting Personal

The last time Portland and Miami communicated was at Summer League in July via phone between Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin and Heat senior vice president of basketball operations and general manager Andy Elisburg. Miami hoped to schedule an in-person meeting while in Las Vegas to discuss trade scenarios, but that meeting never materialized.

Portland made it clear through the media it would take the best offer for Lillard and wouldn't be limited to just Miami. In return, Lillard's agent, Aaron Goodwin, relayed to teams that Lillard would not be content if Portland traded him to a team other than Miami.

The Trail Blazers felt they were being pressured into what they deemed to be an unfavorable starting point in negotiations. The NBA stepped in and warned Goodwin that Lillard could be "subject to discipline" if Lillard's camp continued to disrupt quality offers Portland could field.

"I wanted everyone to understand that even though we didn't have a no-trade clause, a provision that's not afforded to Dame under the CBA, I was going to do everything in my power to control the market and help get my client to a place he wanted to be," Goodwin told B/R.

The Heat say they never had a legitimate opportunity to negotiate. Throughout the process, they felt Portland allowed emotions to get in the way of business. Lillard's camp believed it had become personal.

Miami believes it could have included a third team and netted the Trail Blazers up to three first-round picks with the inclusion of Tyler Herro.

Frustrated with the lack of suitable offers, sources say the Trail Blazers ceased all communication with Lillard and Goodwin in early September. Portland's rationale for keeping them in the dark was to prevent Goodwin from getting involved in potential deals behind the scenes.

For approximately two weeks, calls and texts to the Trail Blazers from Lillard and Goodwin went unanswered.

No Going Back

In late August, Goodwin suggested to Cronin that he meet with Lillard to mend the relationship in case his client were to return to the team. Cronin agreed, and they met at Lillard's Portland-area mansion on Sept. 5. It was the first time the two had spoken in quite some time.

With a little less than a month away from training camp opening, the two sat in the entertainment center of Lillard's home and the meeting lasted about an hour.

Lillard expressed his disappointment with how his situation had been handled, citing his steadfast commitment to the organization over the years. He questioned why there was no dialogue with Miami and expressed how it would be disheartening to be sent somewhere against his wishes.

According to sources, Portland had asked Lillard to sit out the final 10 games of the 2022-23 regular season to help the franchise improve its lottery odds. He was told the higher the draft pick, the better chance they had at using the pick to facilitate a trade for a proven veteran player. He reluctantly acquiesced to being shut down, citing a "calf injury."

Portland went 1-9 to finish the season and would go on to win the No. 3 pick and select Scoot Henderson, a promising young point guard the team planned to keep.

In the Sept. 5 meeting, Cronin conveyed that if he was forced to do a deal with Miami, he had every intention of going after every attractable asset. Lillard knew then he was unlikely to end up in Miami.

Lillard then said if a deal couldn't be worked out with the Heat, he would prefer to rescind his trade request and return to the Trail Blazers.

Cronin's response to the seven-time All-Star was that there was no coming back.

Lillard was shocked, sources said. He said it was discouraging to hear he couldn't return, but added that he didn't want to be somewhere he wasn't wanted, and he ended the meeting.

Lillard was still hopeful a deal with the Heat was within reach. However, he had to face the realization that he might not be moved.

So on Sept. 11, he started showing up at the Trail Blazers' practice facility to work out. He went in for eight days. He said Cronin did not address him once.

"I went into the facility because I was still on the roster and usually that time of the year is when team activities start to pick up as a group. I wasn't confident I would be moved so I showed up to be in the mix," Lillard told B/R.

"I didn't go there to cause any problems," Lillard continued. "That's not my character. If they felt that way, it wasn't my intent. I was just trying to get acclimated and everyone was happy to see me. Every single person except Joe. He never spoke to me. And when I noticed that, I made up in my mind that I'm not going out my way to speak to him."

A Contingency Plan

With the situation getting uglier, Goodwin began orchestrating a contingency plan. He met with his client on Sept. 17 and went over other viable options that fit the team criteria they sought. Milwaukee and Brooklyn were the alternative targets.

Over the last few years, Bucks general manager Jon Horst checked in routinely with Portland on the availability of Lillard. The Bucks always had an affinity for Lillard, as did franchise star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo and Lillard had flirted in recent years with the idea of teaming up together. But the hangup was always the same: both stars wanted the other to come to their team.

Moving in Silence

Deeper into September, things had become so contentious between Lillard's camp and the Blazers that the NBA league office intervened.

On Sept. 23, a Zoom meeting was organized by the NBA featuring league officials, Cronin, a team attorney, Lillard, Goodwin, and Ron Klempner, the general counsel for the National Basketball Players Association. The meeting was scheduled with the purpose of opening up the lines of communication between the Trail Blazers and Lillard's camp. The session got volatile at certain junctures, with both sides expressing their trust issues with the other.

At the end of the session, Cronin promised to do a better job communicating. In the days ahead, Cronin and Goodwin started communicating again.

No one at that point suspected Milwaukee as a real threat to land Lillard, and developments were quiet. The franchise already had a championship nucleus intact, and the front office wanted to protect relations with Jrue Holiday, a player whom the Bucks hold in the highest regard.

'My Brother for Life'

Cronin elected to go with the Milwaukee package in a three-team blockbuster, pulling off the biggest transaction of his brief reign as general manager. His haul: Deandre Ayton, Holiday, Toumani Camara, a 2029 unprotected first-round pick, and two first-round swap rights with Milwaukee.

For Milwaukee, it's all about giving Giannis Antetokounmpo the best possible shot at another championship. Antetokounmpo spoke to B/R about losing Holiday and acquiring a new star teammate in Lillard.

"Jrue is my f--king brother for life. I love his family. I love him. I appreciate him. I wish him nothing but the best. He blessed me with a f--king championship," Antetokounmpo told B/R. "He's the one who made that huge steal in Game 5 of the Finals. I went to battle with him multiple times. F--k basketball. F--k the media shit. This guy is my brother for life, and it's always going to be like that. He's going to thrive wherever he ends up.

It was clear that the moment is bittersweet for Antetokounmpo, who has genuine admiration for both players.

"Now at the same time, I'm excited to have Dame. He gives us a chance to win a championship. I'm excited to play with the caliber of player that he is. He can score the ball in his sleep and shoot the lights out.

"It's a bittersweet day for the city of Milwaukee. You get Dame, who is a great player, but you lose a great guy. Jrue took us to the promised land. I'm 10 years in now. I know it's a business. At the end of the day, Jrue will alway be be my brother for life. He's one of the best human beings I've been around. But we've got to focus on the goal to win the championship. Dame wants this. He's hungry to win, and he's going to push us. I'm very happy to have him on our team."

This deal gives Lillard the greatest opportunity he's ever had to capture that elusive championship. He has never played with this much talent. It positions the Bucks to be among the title favorites, and they now arguably have the best duo in the NBA.

"My whole life I've been on underdog teams and if we had a good season, we overachieved. Now I'll be able to play with a player that's better than me and to be a part of a great overall team is a dream come true," Lillard told B/R. "That's never been my experience. It's time for me to be in this situation. And knowing myself enough, I'm going to take advantage of it. I'm excited for this opportunity."

When the deal was announced, one of the first text messages Lillard received was from Antetokounmpo.

It read, "Let's get this f--king championship."

That's all Lillard ever wanted.