The Bucks Waived Damian Lillard Over A Year Ago, But They Still Owe Him $90 Million Through 2029

Often in the NBA, you have to take a chance to contend for a championship. The Milwaukee Bucks won a title in 2021, but the team only won one postseason series over the next two seasons. With their title window closing, the team made a deal for guard Damian Lillard before the start of the 2023-24 season. The move came as somewhat of a surprise, though there was optimism in Milwaukee that Lillard would pair well with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Unfortunately for the Bucks, that duo never gelled as well as the team hoped. Lillard still put up solid numbers, but the team didn't translate that into postseason success. In both of Lillard's seasons in Milwaukee, the Bucks lost in the first round of the playoffs. Making matters worse, Lillard tore his Achilles tendon in the 2025 playoffs.

With a lengthy road to recovery ahead of him, Lillard was waived by the Bucks. Milwaukee did that in order to sign center Myles Turner, who had just reached the NBA Finals with the Indiana Pacers. But the Bucks still owe Lillard the money remaining on his contract—which is worth about $112.5 million. 

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Now, the Bucks will pay Lillard $22.5 million per season through 2029. That makes him the third highest-paid player on Milwaukee's books for the upcoming season, even though he's been off the team for over a year.

Only Tyler Herro ($33 million) and Turner ($26.5 million) will be making more than Lillard during the 2026-27 campaign. The next closest players are Kyle Kuzma—$20.4 million and provider of sage financial wisdom—and Gary Trent Jr., who just signed a $64 million deal that the NBA is investigating for circumventing league rules.  

Meanwhile, Lillard, who missed the entirety of last season as he recovered from his injury, is also getting paid by the Trail Blazers. He signed a three-year, $41 million contract to return to Portland after the Bucks waived him, so he's due for an additional $13.3 million from the Trail Blazers.

Nearly $39 million from two teams with over a calendar year in between games? Rehabbing an Achilles injury is a brutal process with a tough emotional toll, but at least Lillard is getting some relief in the form of a massive payday—one the Bucks will likely rue for the rest of the decade.