As everyone in the NBA orbit knows by now, the Milwaukee Bucks just made point guard Damian Lillard the recipient of the richest contract buyout in NBA history. They stretched the $113 million remaining on Lillard’s contract after losing him to an Achilles Tendon tear during their 2025 NBA Playoffs run. The move opened up space for them to sign center Myles Turner and continue on their pursuit of another NBA Championship with superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The buyout allows Lillard to sign anywhere he pleases without forfeiting the remaining money he was owed on the contract. This has the ears of at least a couple Portland Trail Blazers fans perking up. Lillard played with the Blazers for 11 seasons before Portland traded him to the Bucks prior to the 2023 season. Could a return visit from the former face of the franchise be ahead? That elephant in the corner is the subject of today’s Blazer’s Edge Mailbag.
Dave!
Now that Dame is free again, how about picking him up? The way I understand it he can sign anywhere for a minimum contract. Why not come back home? His influence would be good in the locker room. I hear he wants to do rehab work in Portland anyway. How great would it be for the Blazers to get both ends of the trade in [Jrue] Holiday and Lillard? Bring Dame home! He can finish his career here and take the team he once led to the playoffs back again.
Allen
In the abstract it’s a tempting thought. Losing Lillard was one of the three biggest misty-emotional moments the franchise has ever been through. (Trading away Clyde Drexler and watching Bill Walton leave were the other two.) The idea of undoing that event is enticing. Clyde never came home. Neither did Bill. But Dame had a connection to the community that eclipsed either. What a story his return would be.
I’m not sure the effect would go much beyond the emotional, though.
First and foremost, the injury looms large. Lillard will spend most of the next year rehabilitating it. If he wants to rehab under team supervision (and presumably at a team’s cost), he’d have a persuasive argument for signing. In that case, Portland would make a lot of sense. He’d be close to his kids, an opportunity no other franchise can offer him. But if that’s the priority, why not just rehab privately and tailor his exact schedule to his family? There would be nobody to report to, no interference in his way. It’d be far more convenient for him to work his way back on his own, then sign with a team.
Even when he returns, he probably won’t be the same player. At 34, his game was already slipping last season in Milwaukee. He scored 25 points in 36 minutes per game. That’s a healthy total, but not near his peak numbers of 30 and 32 during his prime years in Portland. His defense was spotty. He just didn’t look like the superstar we’re used to seeing. And that’s pre-injury. What’s playing on an unsteady leg going to do to his performance?
Unless he’s going to be a transcendent All-Star who shapes a team around him, we have to ask how Dame would fit in with a roster. The answer at this point in Portland is, “Probably not well.”
The Blazers are a much different team now than they were two years ago. They’re young. They’re defensively oriented. Most importantly, they want to play at tempo and run. Even before he got hurt that wasn’t Lillard’s game. It’d be worse now. Head Coach Chauncey Billups would be yelling at his charges to get the ball down the court but Lillard would be walking. The Blazers would be screening and cutting while Dame dribbled the ball in place figuring out how to attack or get a three.
I’m not saying Lillard couldn’t adjust; he’s a smart veteran. But Portland’s style wouldn’t play to his traditional strengths even on offense, his specialty. And if you think the Blazers were compensating for Anfernee Simons on defense last year, wait and see what they’d need to do with Dame. The difference between him and everybody else on the floor would be obvious.
Would Lillard start? If so, what would Portland do with recently-acquired (and maybe stuck with, given his contract) Jrue Holiday and young Scoot Henderson? You’d have three guards, all of whom would expect major minutes organically. None of them would be suitable as a shooting guard. Somebody’s going to be majorly unhappy sitting on that bench.
If Dame was playing limited minutes in a crowded backcourt, not producing statistically at the same level because of it, and was not able to defend or run with the rest of the team, would he still be that same team leader and franchise face you remember? I would argue not. Taking the forefront is hard in that situation. You can give all the advice you want, but gravity like Lillard had in his prime only comes when you’re the best player on the team and one of the best players in the association.
We haven’t even touched on the actual relationship between Lillard and the Blazers. Dame asked for a trade two seasons ago. The Blazers gave him one, but not to the destination he wanted. Lillard didn’t thank General Manager Joe Cronin in his exit speech, though he feted nearly everyone else he had been associated with in Portland. Cronin is still the GM here. Will Lillard be pining for a reunion? Will the front office? Or will both sides figure that bygones are better left as bygones?
I wouldn’t rule out a reunion between the Blazers and Lillard at some point down the road. If Dame wants to come full-circle and sign for, essentially, a ceremonial retirement—or even retirement tour—more power to him. But for all the reasons above, I think a serious signing would be ill-fated, even if it was at a minimum level. It’s a square peg in a round hole at this point. That peg is pretty big and comes with grandiose expectations that just won’t be met.
Sometimes it’s better to let a great story be complete on its own terms instead of churning out sequels that have no hope of reaching the original’s heights, populated by lesser actors hacking through a crappy, clichéd script. I guess everybody is OK seeing Mark Hamill reprising his Luke Skywalker role for the latest Star Wars trilogy, burning up Jedi trees, spanking Kylo Ren, and whatnot. Sticking him in an X-Wing and having him destroy the Death Star in a two-and-a-half hour epic again just wouldn’t work. You’d buy the ticket for the sake of nostalgia, but you’re not going to like the result as much as you hoped.
Damian Lillard authored a once-in-a-lifetime story in Portland. He took a franchise from the depths of despair in 2012 to All-NBA heights and looked damn good doing it. We should honor that memory; it will never be repeated. That holds true even if the new author is Lillard himself in 2025.
Time and the team have both moved on. Dame and Portland’s fans need to as well. Lillard would be better off trying to help a contender towards a title for the last couple years of his career than he would trying to assimilate to, let alone lead, Portland’s new locker room.
Thanks for the question! You can always send yours to blazersub@gmail.com and we’ll try to answer as many as possible!