Damian Lillard returns to Trail Blazers on 3-year deal
PORTLAND, Ore. — Damian Lillard is back where he started.
Article content
Lillard signed a three-year deal worth $42 million to return to the Portland Trail Blazers, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Thursday. The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not been officially announced.
Article content
Article content
Lillard, 35, was the sixth pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Trail Blazers and spent 11 seasons with Portland before he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks just before the 2023-24 season.
Article content
Lillard tore his left Achilles tendon during a first-round NBA playoff series against the Indiana Pacers and required surgery, meaning he could miss the entire 2025-26 season. The Bucks had waived him earlier this month and stretched the remaining $113 million on his contract over five years.
Article content
Lillard ranked 10th in the league in scoring (24.9) and assists (7.1) this season while earning his ninth All-Star Game selection. But he played only 58 games because of deep vein thrombosis.
Article content
Lillard confirmed the deal, posting a video to his Instagram of the Trail Blazers' locker room, ending with a frame of a locker labeled with his name, followed by the words 'Together Again.'
Article content
Article content
He wrote 'RipCityyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!'
Article content
Lillard averaged 32.2 points his final season in Portland. He became just the seventh player in NBA history to score more than 70 points in a game when he finished with 71 against the Houston Rockets that season.
Article content
But Portland won only four playoff series during Lillard's tenure, getting to the Western Conference finals once.
Article content
Lillard was beloved in Portland and always insisted there are no hard feelings over his separation with the Blazers. He wanted to try and chase a championship with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, while Portland was focused on developing young talent, like Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe.
Article content
Lillard, who has a signature shoe deal with Adidas, hinted during an event at the company's North American headquarters in 2024 that some day he might be willing to return to the Trail Blazers.
Article content
Lillard holds Portland records for points (19,376) and 3-pointers (2,387). He's the only Trail Blazers player to score 70 or more points in a game. He had five games of 60 or more points with Portland.
Article content
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
a minute ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
WNBA All-Stars make statement with warmup shirts over CBA
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — All of the players on Team Clark and Team Collier warmed up for Saturday night's WNBA All-Star Game in shirts that read 'Pay us what you owe us.' The shirts come after the players and the league failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement at an in-person meeting Thursday. The league's players opted out of their last CBA in October, and are looking for a better revenue-sharing model, increased salaries, improved benefits and a softer salary cap. 'I'm just so inspired by the amount of players that showed up, the engagement that was there,' WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike said. 'That's really what it's all about. Because the more that happens, the more that we're going to be able to get things done. I think today we're going to be able to use this conversation to start rolling the ball on things.' After the failed negotiations, many players said there was a large discrepancy between what they wanted and what the league was offering. If a new CBA is not reached by October some players, including All-Stars Napheesa Collier and Angel Reese, have mentioned the potential of a walkout. ___ AP WNBA:
Winnipeg Free Press
31 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
WNBA commissioner optimistic about getting new CBA deal done
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert feels optimistic that the league and the players' union will be able to come to a new collective bargaining agreement at some point, even if it's after the end of October deadline. While the two sides are far apart right now after meeting for the first time in person on Thursday since December with more than 40 players in attendance, Engelbert has faith that a deal will get finished. 'I'm still really optimistic that we'll get something done that would be transformational,' she said before the All-Star Game on Saturday night. 'And that, next year at All-Star, we'll be talking about how great everything is. Obviously there's a lot of hard work to be done on both sides to get there.' Engelbert said that more meetings are planned in the future. The current CBA will expire on Oct. 31 after the season is over. 'I have confidence we can get something done by October, but I'm not going to put an exact date on it,' she said. 'We've got some room to continue negotiations if we're close at that point.' There's a lot of money coming into the league over the next few years with a new 11-year media rights deal worth over $2.2 billion, three new expansion teams that each paid $250 million in fees and many new sponsors. The players top priorities are greatly increased salaries and a revenue sharing plan which Engelbert understands. 'We're going to do something transformational here because we we want the same things as the players, but we want to significantly increase their salary and benefits while balancing with our owners, their ability to have a path to profitability, as well as in to continued investment,' she said. Other areas that Engelbert discussed included: Globalization Engelbert talked about trying to expand the footprint of the league around the world more. The league will welcome its first team outside the U.S. next year with the addition of the Toronto Tempo. Engelbert mentioned Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa as places that could have huge interest in the WNBA. 'I think we're really strong domestically now … There's a huge amount of possibilities, to turn these players into a global household being stars that they've now become here in the United States domestically,' she said. Officiating The consistency of officiating has been a topic that players and coaches have been discussing a lot this season and Engelbert said that the league is aware and will evaluate it. 'I realize consistency is the name of the game and I think it's something we definitely need to look at and evaluate. There's an independent evaluation of our officials and there are ramifications. It's something we need to continue to work on. As our game evolves so does our officiating, so we're on it.' Scheduling Engelbert said that the league would look at possibly expanding the length of the season in the future on the backend of the season. The WNBA can't really start any earlier because of the NCAA Tournament, but could go into early November. There's a good shot that will happen next year with the FIBA World Cup taking place in early September. 'We're looking about what's the best footprint, what's the best number of games?' she said. ___ AP WNBA:
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Caitlin Clark makes time for injury treatment while basking in the fun of All-Star weekend
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark refused to let an injury ruin her WNBA All-Star weekend, so she found other ways to participate. Clark spoke out about the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations, mingled with fans at sponsor events, showed other players around her adopted hometown, Indianapolis, and even traded light jabs with five-time All-Star Napheesa Collier. And while Clark did sneak in some treatment time for her injured right groin, she spent most of her time basking in the moment. 'I'm not going to say I've just been getting round-the-clock treatment,' she said during a pregame news conference with the two team captains — Clark and Collier. 'I've still been trying to enjoy this weekend and soak all this in. Once tomorrow comes around, I'll completely shift my focus to getting as healthy as possible.' The injury kept Clark out of Wednesday night's first-half finale in New York, Friday night's 3-point contest in front of a near sellout crowd at the 17,000-seat Gainbridge Fieldhouse and Saturday's game to wrap up the weekend. It's still uncertain whether she'll return when the Fever resume their season Tuesday by hosting defending champion New York. What is clear, though, is that this has not been the season — or the weekend — Clark envisioned back in May. After missing no games during her college career or last season when she earned the league's Rookie of the Year Award, three injuries have already cost her 10 games as Indiana hovers near the middle of the pack. So when she got hurt again last Tuesday, in the final minute of a victory over Connecticut, Clark immediately draped a towel over her head. 'When the injury happened, it was pretty frustrating. Like I knew what the coming days were going to hold for myself,' she said. 'But I feel like dealing with that and then also trying to look at in the most positive manner I can and being a part of this. Maybe I'm not able to play in the game, but I can still be here and participate and I have a ton of friends and family in town that are having a really good time.' Somehow, Clark seemingly has managed to strike a similar balance. She joked about trash-talking, whether players' late-night schedules may have led to the cancellation of both Saturday morning shootarounds while also speaking up about the biggest topic in town — the new CBA deal. Clark was one of about 40 players to attend Thursday's meeting in Indy and promised to be more vocal as a second-year player about what players want out of a new deal that is likely to include larger salaries, a softer salary cap and potentially more sponsors. 'I think we all have a good understanding that this is very important to the future of our careers, the future of the league,' she said as Collier nodded. 'Obviously, there's a good amount of players who have been in this league a really long time and are excited about where it's going to continue to go, and they've been fighting for change for a long time.' But most of all, Clark just wanted everyone in town to enjoy Indy's first All-Star weekend, which seemed to be a hit with fans and players. 'I think this weekend has been absolutely incredible,' she said. 'I hope every player in the league, whether you're participating in the game tonight, the 3-point competition, the skills competition or are just here to enjoy the All-Star weekend, I hope they felt the same and the love from the city.' ___ AP WNBA:
