Damian Lillard: Bucks are 'Absolutely' Title Contenders Despite 'Challenging Year'

This season has been something of an adjustment period for Damian Lillard after he was traded from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Milwaukee Bucks, but he believes his new team can lift the Larry O'Brien Trophy at the end of the campaign.

"Absolutely," he said when asked if his relationship with Giannis Antetokounmpo can come together enough to win at a high level, per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.

Lillard also said he'd "be the first to tell you it's been a challenging year, but the kind of person I am, when stuff like this starts happening, I start thinking there's a reward coming. That's how I think because I do s--- the right way. I don't change. I don't mistreat people. I don't cheat my process. I still go to the gym at night. I do my stuff, my body, I do everything. I did think we'd be rolling a lot sooner than this. But I know we can get there."

Milwaukee's struggles are relative, as it is still 37-21 and in third place in the Eastern Conference.

While it surely won't make up the 8.5-game deficit it is facing with the top-seeded Boston Celtics, it is just one game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for the No. 2 seed. It has also won both of its games since the All-Star break and is starting to build some momentum.

"We've had moments where we've had great stretches of pick-and-rolls, great stretches of playing off of each other," Lillard said. "It is just not enough. People want it all the time, every time, and we have to do it more. But we've had stretches and we've had moments of doing it. It's just, that has to be more bread and butter than, 'Oh, they just did it.'"

The Bucks have had a more turbulent season than most top contenders, as they not only traded for Lillard but also fired head coach Adrian Griffin despite a 30-13 record at the time.

The move, as well as the ensuing decision to hire Doc Rivers, put the team further under the spotlight, but the talent is still there to win a championship. Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, among others, already did during the 2020-21 campaign, and Lillard is one of the best point guards of his generation.

Lillard won the three-point contest and All-Star Game MVP during the break and has stuffed the stat sheet upon his return with a combined 45 points, 19 assists and 16 rebounds in two games.

He remains one of the NBA's top go-to options in crunch time, and he and Antetokounmpo should create matchup nightmares for whichever team faces them in the playoffs. After all, opponents have to pick their poison between Lillard's outside shot and Antetokounmpo's ability to get to the rim, and mixing in some pick-and-rolls in the biggest moments will make that all the more difficult.

Fair or not, this is a championship-or-bust season for Milwaukee after acquiring Lillard and making the move to bring in Rivers.

And the eight-time All-Star believes that it can still be a successful season even with those stakes.