1 week ago
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Associated Press
Jul 21, 2025, 11:12 PM ET
PORTLAND, Ore. -- It deed Damian Lillard arsenic helium drove location with his kids aft signing a declaration to instrumentality to the Portland Trail Blazers.
He was coming home.
Lillard's 3 children, Damian Jr., 7, and twins Kalii and Kali, 4, accompanied him to motion his three-year, $42 cardinal woody with the Blazers implicit the weekend. The declaration includes a no-trade clause and helium tin opt retired aft 2 seasons.
"Just knowing that I'm going to beryllium backmost location for each parts of my life, with my kids, playing for the Trail Blazers, driving connected the aforesaid streets that I've driven connected beauteous overmuch my full adulthood, my full household being here, my mom, my brother, my sisters, each my friends astir the metropolis of Portland," helium said. "All of those things count. I wasn't expecting it to hap truthful soon."
Lillard made his fist nationalist comments astir the woody astatine a quality league connected Monday nighttime with Blazers manager Chauncey Billups and wide manager Joe Cronin.
Lillard played for Portland for his archetypal 11 NBA seasons earlier helium was traded, astatine his request, to the Milwaukee Bucks earlier the commencement of the 2023-24 season.
A nine-time All-Star, the 35-year-old Lillard is beloved successful Portland, known for pointing to his wrist to signify "Dame Time" aft making large shots.
But he's not going to beryllium be backmost connected the tribunal astatine the Moda Center immoderate clip soon.
Lillard tore his near Achilles tendon during a first-round playoff bid against the Indiana Pacers and required country that volition apt sideline him for the 2025-26 season.
The Bucks waived him earlier this period and stretched the remaining $113 cardinal connected his declaration implicit 5 years.
"I told him that this twelvemonth he's going to beryllium the highest-paid adjunct manager successful league past due to the fact that I'll beryllium putting successful the enactment each day," Billups said.
Lillard didn't regularisation retired the anticipation of coming backmost this season, but Cronin said the squad would hold "as agelong arsenic it takes."
"My prideful aforesaid would beryllium reasoning differently, but I deliberation with age, you get wiser," Lillard said. "Like Joe said, it's going to beryllium yet what's best, I think, to instrumentality arsenic overmuch clip arsenic imaginable to marque definite that I'm right, that's what I'll do."
Lillard ranked 10th successful the league successful scoring (24.9) and assists (7.1) this past play portion earning his ninth All-Star selection. But helium was constricted to 58 games by heavy vein thrombosis.
He averaged a career-high 32.2 points his last play successful Portland. That season, helium became conscionable the seventh subordinate successful NBA past to people much than 70 points successful a crippled erstwhile helium finished with 71 against the Houston Rockets.
Portland won lone 4 playoff bid during Lillard's tenure, getting to the Western Conference finals once.
Lillard ever insisted determination are nary hard feelings implicit his separation with the Blazers. He wanted to effort and pursuit a title with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, portion Portland was focused connected processing young players similar Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe.
Lillard, who has a signature footwear woody with Adidas, hinted during an lawsuit astatine the company's North American office successful 2024 that helium mightiness beryllium consenting to instrumentality to the Trail Blazers. He ne'er imagined that an wounded would velocity up the timeline.
The No. 6 wide prime successful the 2012 draught by Portland, Lillard holds franchise records for points (19,376) and 3-pointers (2,387). He had 5 games of 60 oregon much points with Portland.
For his career, Lillard has averaged 25.1 points and 6.7 assists. He was the 2013 Rookie of the Year and was named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary squad successful 2021. He won a golden medal astatine the Tokyo Olympics.
Lillard said his kids yet understood the value of his homecoming during that thrust location implicit the weekend.
"I got to a reddish light, and I conscionable turned astir and my girl was looking astatine maine and I told her," Lillard said. "And she was like, 'Wait, so, like, we don't person to get connected an airplane to Milwaukee nary more?'"
