Damian Lillard is back in Portland.
But he won’t be on the court for the Portland Trail Blazers for a while.
He was a big offseason free agent signing by the Blazers, to a deal worth three years and $42 million.
Portland signed Lillard to that contract knowing he wouldn’t be playing for a while. As the Blazers open the 2025-26 NBA season at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and his former Milwaukee Bucks get things underway against the Washington Wizards, Lillard will be on the sideline Wednesday and for the foreseeable future.
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Why isn’t Damian Lillard playing?
Damian Lillard isn’t playing for the Trail Blazers because he’s out long term with an injury.
He tore his left Achilles in late April as the Bucks took on the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs. Lillard had his surgery in early May.
“Lillard will use the 2025-26 season to rehabilitate his injury, but a return to the franchise and Portland, where his family and children reside were of the ultimate importance, per sources,” wrote ESPN’s Shams Charania in July.
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The Blazers traded Lillard away in 2023, also trading away Jrue Holiday at the time. Both are back in Portland now.
Lillard spent his first 11 NBA seasons out of Weber State with the Trail Blazers, a span in which he made seven All-Star teams and went to the playoffs eight times.
Lillard is Portland’s all-time leader in points (19,376) and 3-pointers (2,387) and second in assists (5,151).
Charania shared one other wild stat at the time of Lillard’s signing:
“Including the regular season and playoffs, Lillard has seven 55-point games with the Trail Blazers. No other player in the franchise’s history has any such games.”
Dame Time is back, although actually getting onto the court will still be a while.
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