After the Milwaukee Bucks waived Damian Lillard, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst compared the contractual move to how the Cleveland Browns have handled the Deshaun Watson situation.
Brian Windhorst Compared Bucks To The Browns
Brian Windhorst on the Bucks waiving Damian Lillard to acquire Myles Turner: "As a Cleveland Browns fan, this is akin to what the Deshaun Watson contract was except for Deshaun Watson wouldn't even be on the team anymore. Which is pretty much the way it is anyway, but that's… pic.twitter.com/msRdYWFFC3
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 2, 2025
Mentioning any player or team in the same sentence as Watson should not be taken as a compliment.
On Wednesday’s edition of First Take, Windhorst discussed the Bucks’ decision to waive Lillard and sign Indiana’s Myles Turner.
By stretching Lillard, the Bucks wipe the final two years of his deal off their books. However, Milwaukee owes Lillard $113 million.
Teams can have no more than 15% of the cap in stretch salary. Since the Bucks had no stretched salary before Lillard, this move works under the stretch provision.
Now, the Bucks will stretch Lillard’s two years to five and pay him $22.5 million per year.
Waiving players and stretching their contracts is common in the NBA. However, stretching a contract like Lillard’s with that value is unprecedented.
As a Browns fan, Windhorst got flashbacks to how the Lillard situation reminds him of what’s going on with Watson in Cleveland.
“It’s a level of mortgage that really pro sports has never seen before,” Windhorst said on First Take via Awful Announcing. “As a Cleveland Browns fan, this is akin to what the Deshaun Watson contract was except for Deshaun Watson wouldn’t even be on the team anymore. Which is pretty much the way it is anyway, but that’s another story for another day.”
After trading for Watson in March 2022, the Browns signed their newly acquired quarterback to a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract.
With Watson only having a 9-10 record as the starter in three seasons, the trade and contract are considered two of the worst in professional sports history.
Like the Bucks, the Browns restructured Watson’s contract to create cap space. Cleveland owes Watson $92 million. However, the Browns added a void year to the deal in 2029, meaning Cleveland will be paying their quarterback for the next five years.
Why Doesn’t Brian Windhorst Like The Bucks’ Move To Stretch Damian Lillard’s Contract?
Why the Bucks are able to waive-and-stretch Damian Lillard without a buyout, but the Suns can't with Bradley Beal:
Teams can have no more than 15% of the cap in stretch salary in a given season.
Bucks have no stretched salary on their books before Lillard. They clear the 15%…
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 1, 2025
Windhorst revealed that he does not believe waiving Lillard and stretching the contract is a “smart move on any level.”
Windhorst’s dislike for the move is based on how the Bucks used new cap space on Turner, who signed a four-year, $107 million deal with a player option in Year 4 and a 15% trade kicker.
“I don’t think Myles Turner moves the needle, and I say that not as an insult to Myles Turner,” Windhorst explained.
The Bucks’ main objective is to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo. Windhorst, like many NBA pundits, does not believe the Turner signing will be the reason why Antetokounmpo will stay in Milwaukee.
