Damian Lillard had not performed a single NBA recreation in almost a 12 months when he stepped onto the court docket on the 2026 All-Star Weekend. Still recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, the 35-year-old was hardly an apparent candidate to steal the present. Yet, with a basketball in his arms and a three-point line in entrance of him, he regarded remarkably acquainted.
Lillard defeated Devin Booker 29-27 within the last spherical of the Three-Point Contest, claiming his third title in 4 years and becoming a member of Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the one three-time winners within the competitors’s historical past. It was a reminder that one of many biggest capturing abilities of his technology had not merely disappeared throughout his restoration.
Of course, flattening uncontested pictures could be very completely different from navigating NBA defences, absorbing contact and maintaining with the bodily calls for of an 82-game season. But Lillard has since taken one other step ahead, returning to aggressive motion through the Portland Trail Blazers‘ preseason preparations and providing an early glimpse of how he may match into the group’s new-look backcourt.
Now again with the franchise the place he spent the primary 11 seasons of his profession, Lillard faces a distinct challenge. The query is not whether or not he can nonetheless shoot. It is how a lot of the participant who as soon as outlined Rip City stays – and what he can convey to a group that has modified significantly in his absence.
The making of Dame Time
Lillard’s connection with Portland started on June twenty eighth, 2012, when the Trail Blazers chosen the Weber State guard with the sixth general choose within the NBA Draft. Four months later, he made his NBA debut towards the Los Angeles Lakers, dealing with a group led by Kobe Bryant, one of many gamers he had admired rising up.
There was little signal of rookie nerves. Lillard completed with 23 factors and 11 assists in a 116-106 victory, turning into simply the third participant on the time to document at the least 20 factors and 10 assists in his first NBA recreation, becoming a member of Oscar Robertson and Allen Iverson.
He adopted that efficiency with a outstanding rookie season, averaging 19.0 factors and 6.5 assists whereas main all first-year gamers in each classes. His consistency earned him the 2012/13 Rookie of the Year award by unanimous vote, making him solely the fourth participant in league historical past on the time to obtain that honour.
What adopted was greater than a profitable particular person profession. Over 11 seasons, Lillard grew to become the face of the Trail Blazers, the franchise’s all-time main scorer and probably the most recognisable figures in Portland sports activities. His relationship with town prolonged past basketball, and the loyalty he confirmed throughout years when championship competition remained out of attain helped strengthen that connection.
But if there may be one high quality that outlined his time in Portland, it was his skill to ship when the stakes had been highest.
His series-winning three-pointer towards the Houston Rockets within the 2014 playoffs offered an early glimpse of what was to come. Five years later, he produced a second that may grow to be inseparable from his identify.
With Game 5 of Portland’s 2019 first-round sequence towards the Oklahoma City Thunder tied at 115, Lillard calmly dribbled close to midcourt as the ultimate seconds disappeared. Paul George defended him, however fairly than driving towards the basket, Lillard stepped again and launched a three-pointer from roughly 37 ft.
The ball went by way of the web as time expired.
Portland received 118-115, eradicated the Thunder in 5 video games and watched Lillard end with 50 factors and 10 three-pointers. His informal goodbye wave towards Oklahoma City’s bench solely made the second extra memorable. George later described the try as a foul shot, however for Lillard, that form of vary had grow to be a part of his recreation.
It was Dame Time in its purest type: confidence, extraordinary capturing skill and a willingness to take duty for the result.
And his scoring brilliance was not restricted to the ultimate seconds of shut video games. On February twenty sixth, 2023, Lillard delivered one of many biggest particular person performances in franchise historical past, scoring 71 factors and making 13 three-pointers towards the Rockets. He had already scored 41 by halftime and completed the sport in fewer than 40 minutes.
At 32, he grew to become the oldest participant in NBA historical past to rating at the least 70 factors in a regular-season recreation, including one other outstanding achievement to a profession already crammed with them.
The ring that by no means got here
Yet regardless of the data, All-Star appearances and unforgettable playoff moments, one accomplishment remained lacking.
After 11 seasons in Portland, Lillard was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in September 2023, becoming a member of Giannis Antetokounmpo in pursuit of his first NBA championship.
The choice marked the tip of an period for the Trail Blazers. Lillard had grow to be synonymous with the franchise, however at 33, he wished the chance to compete for a title whereas nonetheless taking part in at an elite stage. Milwaukee, with a longtime famous person and championship expertise, appeared to provide precisely that.
The partnership, nonetheless, by no means delivered the postseason success both aspect had envisioned.
During Lillard’s first season with the Bucks, Antetokounmpo suffered a left calf damage shortly earlier than the playoffs and missed Milwaukee’s total first-round sequence towards the Indiana Pacers. Lillard additionally dealt with accidents, and the Bucks had been eradicated in six video games.
The following season introduced an much more tough ending. After lacking time whereas receiving therapy for a blood clot in his proper calf, Lillard returned for the playoffs, solely to undergo a torn left Achilles tendon throughout Game 4 towards the Pacers on April twenty seventh, 2025. Milwaukee misplaced the sequence 4-1, leaving the group’s much-anticipated partnership and not using a single playoff sequence victory.
Just over two months later, the Bucks made one other shocking choice. They waived Lillard and stretched roughly $112.6 million in remaining assured wage over 5 seasons, creating room for the arrival of Myles Turner. The choice was financially vital and marked an surprising finish to Lillard’s pursuit of a championship in Milwaukee.
But what initially regarded like one other main setback quickly opened an surprising door.
In July 2025, Lillard agreed to return to Portland on a three-year contract. He would spend the next season recovering from his Achilles damage, however the vacation spot of his comeback was already determined.
After leaving Rip City in the hunt for a championship, he was coming dwelling with out the ring he had hoped to win.
A well-recognized metropolis, a distinct group
The Portland Trail Blazers Lillard is returning to should not the identical group he left in 2023.
Last season, Portland completed 42-40 and returned to the playoffs, exhibiting vital progress after a number of years of rebuilding. The franchise now has a youthful core, larger depth and ambitions that stretch past merely growing expertise.
For Lillard, that creates an fascinating state of affairs. He is not being requested to carry a complete offence, however discovering his place in an more and more crowded rotation could possibly be one of many greatest challenges of his comeback.
Deni Avdija has emerged as a central determine in Portland’s assault. Coming off his first All-Star season, throughout which he averaged a career-high 24.2 factors per recreation, the Israeli ahead has developed into a flexible scorer and playmaker able to creating alternatives for himself and his teammates.
The arrival of Ja Morant provides one other dimension. Few guards can match Morant’s explosiveness when attacking the basket, and his skill to collapse defences may create precious alternatives for Lillard on the perimeter. At the identical time, Morant is accustomed to controlling the offence, that means the 2 will want to discover a steadiness between dealing with the ball and taking part in off it.
That is the place Lillard’s capturing may grow to be significantly vital.
Even if he not possesses the identical burst he had earlier in his profession, defenders can not afford to ignore him past the three-point line. His skill to stretch the ground may present extra room for Morant’s drives and Avdija’s assaults, whereas his expertise operating pick-and-roll conditions provides Portland one other method to generate offence when its preliminary choices break down.
Donovan Clingan could possibly be one other beneficiary. The younger centre led the NBA with 4.5 offensive rebounds per recreation final season, giving Portland a big benefit on the glass. His measurement and screening skill additionally make him a probably helpful associate for Lillard, whose success within the pick-and-roll has lengthy been a defining a part of his offensive recreation.
The Blazers have vital defensive items as nicely. Toumani Camara brings physicality and the power to challenge opposing perimeter gamers, whereas two-time NBA champion Jrue Holiday gives expertise, defensive versatility and management. Scoot Henderson stays one other gifted younger guard trying to set up himself, though Shaedon Sharpe‘s knee damage complicates the group’s backcourt rotation.
Managing these completely different items will likely be a significant activity for new head coach Micah Nori.
Portland have loads of gamers able to dealing with the ball, however that doesn’t routinely translate into an environment friendly offence. Lillard, Morant and Avdija all have expertise as main creators, and figuring out who initiates possessions, who performs off the ball and which combos work finest may take time.
There are additionally legit issues about Lillard’s bodily situation. An Achilles rupture is a severe damage for any basketball participant, significantly a guard whose recreation has relied on adjustments of tempo, separation and the power to create area towards elite defenders.
His February shooting-contest victory demonstrated that his contact stays intact, but it surely couldn’t reply questions on lateral motion, defensive mobility or the bodily calls for of a full NBA schedule. At 36, managing his minutes and workload will seemingly be simply as vital as discovering his offensive position.
Before the damage, Lillard averaged 24.9 factors and seven.1 assists in his last season with Milwaukee. Those numbers mirror a participant who remained an elite offensive risk nicely into his thirties. Portland might not want that model of him each night time, however one other dependable shot creator may make a distinction in shut video games and towards disciplined playoff defences.
Perhaps most significantly, Lillard brings one thing that can not be measured fully by way of statistics. He understands what it means to lead the Trail Blazers, to face the expectations of their followers and to carry out underneath postseason stress. For a roster with a number of younger gamers nonetheless establishing themselves, that have may show precious.
The challenge is discovering a method to profit from all the pieces Lillard provides with out slowing the event of the group round him.
One extra Dame Time?
At 36, Lillard is not anticipated to carry Portland’s offence or ship 30-point performances on a nightly foundation. With a gifted younger core round him, his position will likely be completely different, however that doesn’t essentially make it any much less vital.
The Trail Blazers have taken a step ahead, however competing within the Western Conference stays a substantial challenge. If Lillard can keep wholesome, present dependable scoring and assist Portland grow to be a extra harmful playoff group, his return may show precious past the numbers on the stat sheet.
And whereas his first NBA championship ring stays out of attain, the potential of successful it with the franchise the place his profession started provides one other layer to the story.
Dame Time might not look precisely because it as soon as did. But in Rip City, the clock has not stopped simply but.
