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• Bucks confident of returning to the top after Lillard trade

  Damian Lillard will be tasked with helping the Milwaukee Bucks return to the top of the NBA after his trade from the Portland Trail Blazers. 

  Star guard Lillard signed for the Bucks on Wednesday in a three-way trade – which also included the Phoenix Suns – that saw Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton and Toumani Camara on the move too.

  Lillard leaves Portland after 11 years with the Trail Blazers. He is a seven-time All-Star and enjoyed a career-best season in 2022-23, averaging 32.2 points and 7.3 assists, though he did sit out the final month of the season due to injury.

  Now, the Bucks – the 2021 NBA Champions – will be hoping that Lillard can combine with two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to push them towards another title, following a disappointing first-round exit at the hands of the Miami Heat in last season's playoffs.
  

  Fast Fact

  Despite missing the last 10 games of the season, Lillard (1,866) was Portland's highest points scorer last term by over 500, with Anfernee Simons next best for the Trail Blazers with 1,306.

  Lillard a difference-maker

  "His character, competitiveness, talent and experience complement our group and gives us the best chance to win at the very highest level as we create new memories together," Bucks general manager Jon Horst said of Lillard.

  So, does Lillard have what it takes to make the difference for the Bucks?

  Lillard leaves Portland as a franchise great. He ranks first in team history in points and three-pointers and second in assists. Including the playoffs, he had 17 games with 50+ points for the Blazers. All other players in franchise history have only combined for seven 50-point games. He is a big-game player, and he should help ease the burden on Antetokounmpo.

• Milwaukee Bucks trade for All-Star Damian Lillard

  Damian Lillard finally has a new team, though it's not the one the NBA world had been expecting.

  The Portland Trail Blazers have agreed to send their franchise icon to the Milwaukee Bucks in a blockbuster three-team trade that also involves fellow star players Jrue Holiday and Deandre Ayton, ESPN reported Wednesday.

  Portland will receive Holiday from the Bucks and Ayton and rookie Toumani Camara from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Lillard, a seven-time All-Star who requested a trade this summer with the Trail Blazers in a rebuild.

  The Blazers will also get Milwaukee's unprotected 2029 first-round pick as well as the right to swap first-round selections with the Bucks in 2028 and 2030.

  Phoenix will receive veteran center Jusuf Nurkic and forwards Nassir Little and Keon Johnson from Portland, as well as guard Grayson Allen from Milwaukee.

  Lillard had expressed a preference to be dealt to the Miami Heat, but the Blazers were unable to work out a trade to his desired destination that would satisfy their requirements for multiple draft picks and young players to add to their young core of rookie point guard Scoot Henderson and second-year wing Shaedon Sharpe.

  The 33-year-old will instead be joining the team that finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference last season, but was dealt a stunning loss by the eighth-seeded Heat in the first round of the playoffs.

  Lillard joins two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, three-time All-Star Khris Middleton and first team All-Defensive Team centre Brook Lopez as the nucleus of a Bucks squad that will be considered one of the favourites in the East after finishing 58-24 last season.

  The trade, which is still awaiting league approval, also ends the 11-year tenure for arguably the most popular player in Trail Blazers' history. Lillard leaves Portland as the franchise's all-time leader in points (19,376) and three-point field goals (2,387), while his 5,151 assists rank second in team history.

  Lillard is also coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 32.2 points per game and matched a personal best by shooting 46.3 per cent from the field, though a calf injury limited him to 58 games and he did not play after March 22.

  The Blazers' season didn't go nearly as well, as they finished 13th in the Western Conference with a 33-49 record. Lillard's displeasure over the team's poor finish, plus its decision to keep its first-round draft picks instead of moving them for a win-now player, prompted him to formally issue a trade request in July.

  Holiday, who earned a second career All-Star nod in 2022-23, could be on the move again soon, as ESPN reports Portland is expected to field trade offers for the 33-year-old point guard after taking Henderson with the No. 3 overall pick in this year's draft.

  The 25-year-old Ayton figures to remain part of the Blazers' long-range plans with three seasons left on a four-year, $133 million extension he signed in 2022. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 draft averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds per game last season and has averaged a double-double in each of his five NBA seasons.

  Phoenix gets a ready-made replacement for Ayton in Nurkic in addition to building needed depth to its star-laden core of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and offseason pickup Bradley Beal.

  Nurkic averaged 13.3 points and 9.1 rebounds while starting 52 games for Portland last season. 

• I’ve waited my whole life for this – Rosie Eccles ready to seize Olympic chance

  Rosie Eccles believes the heartbreak of missing out on a place at the Tokyo Olympics will stand her in good stead when she finally realises a long-held boxing ambition in Paris next year.

  The 27-year-old from Cardiff was denied a second shot at reaching the delayed 2020 Games when Covid forced the cancellation of the second qualifier in London, and three personal bouts with the illness left her fearing the “curse” could strike again.

  But, after fighting back to clinch Commonwealth gold for Wales in Birmingham last year, Eccles belatedly booked her place at the Games in June when she won a bronze medal at the European Games in Krakow.

  Eccles told the PA news agency: “I’ve really had to do it the hard way, and just when I thought I was in the clear I got Covid again, so it felt like I was cursed and history was going to repeat itself.

  “I was absolutely heartbroken to miss out on Tokyo and it’s been a real monkey on my back for a long time. But I showed at the Commonwealths that I had that grit to come back and get the medal in tough circumstances, and that shows I have plenty of self-belief.”

  Eccles has dreamed of going to the Olympics since her first boxercise class in 2011, one year before the likes of Nicola Adams and Katie Taylor helped boost the profile of the women’s sport at London 2012.

  “I already had a massive ambition to go to the Olympics and watching the likes of Nicola Adams just confirmed it,” added Eccles.

  “I’ve always been a huge fan of the Olympics, I remember sitting down when I was younger and watching the likes of Kelly Holmes. But boxing made me realise that this is my sport and this is where I want to be, and about a decade later it’s finally happened.”

  Having overcome her Covid setbacks, Eccles underscored her potential for Paris by coming through a tough draw in Krakow, including a notable win over Ireland’s world champion Amy Broadhurst to effectively seal her place.

  She will have the added bonus in the French capital of a change to the Olympic weights, which means she will be able to fight in her favoured 66kg category, rather than the 70kg division in which she won her gold medal in Birmingham.

  “It’s my natural weight and it’s really going to benefit me,” added Eccles. “I’m ready to go out and achieve what I know I can achieve. I’ve waited my whole life for this bit. I’ve had plenty of ups and downs, but all that heartache is only going to help.”