It’s Dame Time again in Portland. Damian Lillard has agreed to a 3-year deal to return to the Trail Blazers, after the Bucks waived the star guard earlier this month. Lillard, who is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, spent his first 11 seasons in Portland and is expected to be ready for the 2026-27 season. What should we make of the reunion? Let’s break it down.
Good move or bad move for Dame?
Dan Devine: Great move for Dame. Lillard returns to the franchise where he’s a legend, to the city where he’s a made man and, most important of all, to the home where he can be with his three children each and every day — a massive quality-of-life improvement for a player who’d been very vocal about the difficulties of being away from his family during his two years in Milwaukee.
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Oh, and Dame will get the Blazers’ full $14.1 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception on a three-year deal. That comes with a player option for 2027-28 — potentially allowing him to re-enter unrestricted free agency for one more big score at age 37 — and a full no-trade clause. So: Between his waived-and-stretched deal with the Bucks and the new agreement with the Blazers, Lillard’s in line to make $141 million over the next two seasons. To take the entirety of next year off to rehab his surgically repaired Achilles; to do it from the comforts of his own home; to put a regrettable period behind him; and to return to a city that adores him? Nice work if you can get it.
Ben Rohrbach: Great move. Who doesn’t like a grand reunion? It didn’t even seem like Lillard was ever fully sold on the idea of leaving Portland, the future Hall of Famer loved it so much. To have the chance to finish his career where it started, shepherding the next generation of great Blazers, is storybook stuff. In the meantime, he gets paid handsomely to rehab his torn Achilles tendon. What, exactly, is not to like?
Dan Titus: Good move, for sure. Sometimes it’s deeper than basketball. Lillard returns to a beloved fan base and franchise that has supported him throughout his Hall of Fame career. He could’ve chased rings, but instead, Lillard chose family. At the end of the day, he’s getting paid a ridiculous amount of money over the next two seasons to rehab an Achilles injury, and we don’t know how he’ll look when he returns. Lillard joins a young, ascending team, has earned himself a no-trade clause and will retire as the best Blazer in history. Sounds like a win across the board.
Good move or bad move for the Blazers?
Rohrbach: Meh? Lillard will sell tickets in Portland upon his return, but will the Blazers really want to hand the keys back to a high-usage 36-year-old who has rehabbed from a devastating injury a season from now, when the franchise will be years into the process of trying to emerge from Lillard’s shadow? That depends on whether Lillard is willing to accept a diminished role behind any emerging young talent.
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Titus: With Paul Allen’s estate announcing it’s selling the team, I understand the decision to reacquire a star who can help drive revenue during a sale. The Blazers also wisely drafted Yang Hansen, who gives broader appeal to global audiences. Optically, it’s the right move. Basketball-wise, it’s more of a wait-and-see. I’m not sure how bringing back Dame accelerates Scoot Henderson’s development. It probably stifles it somewhat, but overall, I like how Portland has reshaped its roster and is moving closer toward a contender than a pretender.
Devine: First thing’s first: It’s good for Portland no matter how it works on the court. I’m not sure anyone involved here ever really wanted Dame to leave; now, all parties involved get a second chance, and the Blazers get to give their paying customers the gift of a heart-swelling reunion. Even in a results-based business like professional basketball, championships aren’t the only thing that matters. The way this stuff feels is important, too. And this, near as I can tell, feels really friggin’ good in Portland.
There are reasonable on-court questions to consider. What will the Blazers’ backcourt look like in the fall of 2026, with Lillard ready to return, Jrue Holiday owed $34.8 million for his age-36 season, Shaedon Sharpe perhaps starting the extension for which he’s eligible now, and Scoot Henderson becoming extension-eligible himself? How will the introduction of a post-Achilles Dame alter the infrastructure and operation of a Blazers team that began to develop a defense-first identity last season? Is any of this enough to put Portland in position for the kind of postseason contention it’s been chasing since before the pandemic?
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Those questions, and others, will find answers soon enough. The bet here, though, is that what the Blazers gain in bringing Dame home — emotionally and spiritually, if not necessarily practically — far outweighs what they might lose on the court.
What’s another NBA reunion you’d like to see?
Titus: Kevin Durant to Oklahoma City. It’d be cool to see KD, one of the staples of the franchise, give it one more go with the franchise that raised him. The expiration date has likely passed since OKC became the best team in basketball and is set up for success for years to come. Still, I think it’d be a good send-off for KD’s illustrious but complex career.
Devine: Let’s get Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan back for one last lap in Toronto. They helped turn the Raptors into a consistently competitive, serious organization; Lowry reaped the fruits of those endeavors with the 2019 NBA championship, but DeRozan, sent to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard, never did. It’d be cool to see them get a season’s full of flowers thrown at their feet north of the border before they both exit stage left.
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Rohrbach: Give me LeBron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers — somehow, someway. They would have a real chance to compete for a championship with him in the mix on the wing, and wouldn’t that be some full-circle moment for arguably the greatest — and certainly the longest — career in the sport’s history?
True or False: When Dame faces Milwaukee for the first time as a Blazer again, Giannis will still be a Buck
Titus: True. I expect Dame to return for the 2026-27 season. It may be wishful thinking, but Giannis has consistently displayed loyalty to Milwaukee. Barring a terrible upcoming season, Giannis will be a Buck until his $62M player option comes up in 2027-28.
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Rohrbach: False. While I also do not anticipate Lillard’s return until the 2026-27 campaign, it is already in the best interest of both Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks to negotiate a blockbuster trade. For now, it seems like both parties are open to finding a path forward together, but sooner or later — as soon as it becomes clear to them he cannot win another title in Milwaukee — they should pave his exit.
Devine: True. Every year, we talk about Giannis leaving, and every year, he doesn’t. At this point, I’ll believe he’s going when I actually see him holding up a new jersey in a press conference.
