In a blockbuster 2023 offseason gamble, the Milwaukee Bucks traded All-Defensive combo guard Jrue Holiday — with whom they had won their first title in 50 years — for aging superstar point guard Damian Lillard with their sights set on expanding Giannis Antetokounmpo's championship window. Instead, it's starting to look like they acquired a lemon.

At first, they thought it was the groin. That’s the ailment the Bucks listed for Damian Lillard on the injury report, coming off a dispiriting, “we have to have a meeting” -type of loss to the Warriors: right groin soreness, probable for Milwaukee’s next game, a nationally televised Thursday tilt against the Lakers.