Bringing Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks was unquestionably the biggest offseason transaction.

The seven-time All-Star, who had been linked to the Miami Heat for months, shocked the NBA community when he revealed he was joining forces with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

This offseason, 2Lillard and Giannis teamed up with the Bucks to form one of the league’s most formidable one-two punches.Regards: GettyPat Connaughton was perhaps one of the few who guessed where Dame would end up.The former guard from Notre Dame was Lillard’s Portland Trailblazers teammate from 2015 to 2018.Before Pat was traded to the Bucks in 2018, the two became close during their time together in Portland.As soon as Connaughton arrived in Milwaukee, he set up a group chat with himself, Lillard, and Giannis, the most recent player to leave the Bucks.The ‘Get Dame To Milwaukee’ campaign got off right away; Lillard said recently that Pat acted as a “middle man” to help make the move happen.

“Pat Connaughton, who’s on our team now, was my rook in Portland,” Dame said on ‘Knuckleheads’, a podcast hosted by former NBA players Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles.

“And then he ended up signing with Milwaukee. So when he was here, he was like the middleman. So we was in the group chat … [Giannis would say] like ‘Pat, tell him to come here’. He like, ‘Pat, no, tell Dame, he need to come to Milwaukee’. So like it was like ongoing like that.”

2.Part of the reason the Lillard trade fell through is due to former Trailblazer Pat Connaughton. Credit: GettyUltimately, Agent Pat’s efforts paid off, and in September, Lillard was traded to Milwaukee as part of a three-team transaction that also included the Phoenix Suns.On October 26, Lillard made his Bucks debut against the Philadelphia 76ers. In a 118–117 win, he scored 39 points, a franchise record for a debut.But Dame and his new club lacked cohesiveness, and Milwaukee struggled in the weeks that followed, especially defensively after Jrue Holiday was traded away.After a shaky beginning, they’ve recently stabilized. The Bucks are third in the Eastern Conference with a 9-4 record and a four-game winning streak.In a recent 132-125 victory over the Mavericks, Lillard scored 27 points and dished out 12 assists, suggesting that he is gradually getting used to life in Wisconsin.It may be over for the rest of the league if he and Giannis gel well.