In this photo from April 9, 2023, Damian Lillard (0) of the Portland Trail Blazers looks on during the third quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images/TNS)

The Portland Trail Blazers are trading Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks, an NBA source has confirmed to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the news. He also reported that the move involves a three-team deal that brings Phoenix center Deandre Ayton to the Blazers and sent center Jusuf Nurkic and others to the Suns. Portland also receives guard Jrue Holiday from the Bucks. However, Wojnarowski reported that the Blazers are seeking to trade Holiday, who would only clog up the team’s already deep guard rotation.

The trade ends nearly three months of drama that permeated throughout the NBA offseason since Lillard demanded a trade to the Miami Heat on July 1.

Although not Lillard’s desired destination, Milwaukee absolutely provides Lillard, 33, with a chance to contend for a championship, something he didn’t see happening in Portland.

Lillard will be paired with by far the best player he has ever played with in Giannis Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA MVP who led the Bucks to the NBA championship during the 2020-21 season.

The Bucks finished last season with the best record in the NBA (58-24) but lost to the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs.

Lillard demanded a trade after he determined that the Blazers were not serious about building a contender around him after general manager Joe Cronin had declared numerous times that that was hid goal.

The situation became contentious on draft night in June when the Blazers used the No. 3 pick to select point guard Scoot Henderson, 19.

The Blazers and Lillard met days later and Cronin reassured Lillard that the plan remained to build around the franchise’s superstar. But when free agency began days later without the Blazers making a major move, Lillard issued a trade request and demanded to go to Miami.

Negotiations between the Blazers and Miami never truly got rolling. Despite Lillard’s demand, Cronin sought to find better offers than what he believed he could get from the Heat. On Miami’s side, NBA sources told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the Heat weren’t compelled to throw all of their chips in without the Blazers demonstrating a willingness to negotiate.

In the end, the Blazers came out well if Ayton can turn his career around. The No. 1 overall pick in 2018 became a polarizing figure in Phoenix because of his occasional lack of effort. He was heavily criticized for his play during second-round loss to Denver.

Ayton averaged just 10.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game after putting up 18 points and 10 rebounds per game during the regular season.

As for Lillard, the only question now is if he will report happily to Milwaukee. His camp made it clear during the summer that he only wanted to play for Miami. In fact, Lillard’s agent Aaron Goodwin told other teams that if they traded for Lillard, they would receive an unhappy player.

But Lillard would have a tough time selling being unhappy about playing with Antetokounmpo on a team that had the best record in basketball last season.

Lillard will finally have a chance to truly contend for a championship after 11 seasons in Portland where the furthest he got was the Western Conference finals in 2019.