Patrick Beverley: I Have to Get Damian Lillard Relationship 'Right' After Bucks Trade

Rivals will now become teammates after the Philadelphia 76ers traded Patrick Beverley to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he'll join forces with Damian Lillard.

The two guards haven't exactly been friends over the years, but they must co-exist now in Milwaukee, which is fighting for a championship.

Post-trade, both players acknowledged their past beef alongside their desire to make things right for the good of the team's title aspirations.

Beverley first broke the news of his own trade on Thursday. Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bucks are sending Cam Payne and a 2027 second-round pick to Philadelphia.

The most notable recent incident between the two occurred in January 2023, when Lillard still played for the Portland Trail Blazers and Beverley suited up for the Los Angeles Lakers. The two exchanged words in the second quarter, to the point where Beverley even got a technical.

That issue spilled over to after the game, with Lillard calling Beverley a "con man" in response to Beverley disagreeing with a characterization on Lillard's 5-of-17 shooting night.

But now Beverley and Lillard appear ready to set aside their differences. Milwaukee sits tied for third in the Eastern Conference with the New York Knicks at 33-18. The 39-12 Boston Celtics have far and away looked like the best team in the league this far, while the second-place Cleveland Cavaliers are the hottest as winners of seven straight.

So the Bucks have a lot of competition just to get through the gauntlet of the Eastern Conference playoffs, and any past beefs spilling over into the present aren't going to help matters. Beverley and Lillard both appear to recognize that, and now the Bucks move forward in hopes of orchestrating a strong second half to the season.