When the trade went down in late September that sent Deandre Ayton to the Portland Trail Blazers, he wasn’t the big name in the deal. Nor was Jusuf Nurkic. It was Damian Lillard who, after spending 11 seasons in the Rose City, had navigated his exit and landed with the Milwaukee Bucks.
To make the mechanics of the trade work, numerous ancillary players were added. One of those assets was Grayson Allen, who ended up with the .
The initial response by the fan base was along the lines of “How could you?