Today, ESPN reporters Tim Bontemps and Jamal Collier jointly wrote an article about Lillard's layoffs by the Bucks.

Sources revealed that the current expectation is that Lillard will not sign with any team in the 25-26 season, and he will not get a penny less now, and he will have the opportunity to recover from the next year to one and a half years, and then choose the next stop as a complete free agent for the first time in his career.

In the 2024-25 season, Lillard played 58 regular season games, averaging 36.1 minutes per game, scoring 24.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.2 steals. At the end of March this year, he suffered a deep vein thrombosis in his right calf and recovered in less than a month. He returned in G2 against the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs. But in G4, he suffered a tear on his left Achilles tendon and was reimbursed for the season.

Lillard has two seasons left in his original contract, with salary of $54.13 million and $58.46 million respectively. The Bucks used extended clauses to cut Lillard and will pay the remaining 113 million yuan of salary in five years.