(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
The Eastern Conference got substantially better during the NBA offseason, with two of the heavyweights in the conference making blockbuster trades to improve their rosters.
The Boston Celtics started things off by acquiring Kristaps Porzingis, which already appears to be working wonders in Beantown right out of the gate.
The Milwaukee Bucks countered by acquiring superstar guard Damian Lillard, who everyone thought would land with the Miami Heat before the 2023-24 campaign began.
The Celtics countered with the addition of Jrue Holiday, who the Bucks gave up to the Portland Trail Blazers to get Lillard, then was flipped to Boston.
With all this movement between these two teams, the Heat has been forgotten as a potential title contender, but Mike Wilbon of ESPN makes the argument that he’d rather have Jimmy Butler than Lillard, which got quite the reaction out of Stephen A. Smith via NBA Central.
Michael Wilbon believes Jimmy Butler is a better player than Damian Lillard
Stephen A. Smith: “I love Jimmy Butler. Ain’t no way in hell he’s ever an option above Damian Lillard. Stop it! Stop it! No! He’s not!”
(h/t @awfulannouncing )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 27, 2023
Even though Wilbon and Smith both make good points, the fact is that Butler has the resume of success in the NBA playoffs, while Lillard has the stats in the regular season.
If you want to win and win at a high level, Butler might be the player a team wants to count on, even though Lillard is far more talented, which makes it an interesting argument.
This debate will become that much more interesting over the course of this season, with Lillard finally playing for a winning franchise and Butler trying to prove that last season’s magical run to the NBA Finals was no fluke.
The post Michael Wilbon States A Clear Difference Between 2 NBA East Stars appeared first on The Cold Wire.