Oct 8 2025 | Isaac Garcia | Sports Editor
On Sept. 27, 2023, Portland Trail Blazers point guard and franchise legend Damian Lillard was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a deal that broke the hearts of Blazers fans who had embraced Lillard since he arrived in 2012. Earlier that offseason, Lillard had requested a trade with hopes of having a better opportunity to compete for an NBA championship. The Bucks, who were two years removed from winning a title with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the team, seemed to give Lillard the best chance he’d ever had to do it.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as planned. In the first season, internal struggles between Bucks players and the coaching staff kept the team from reaching its high expectations. In his second season with Milwaukee, Lillard was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis and had to miss the final month of the regular season before returning just in time for the playoffs.
Unfortunately, in the fourth game of the Bucks’ first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, Lillard fell to the ground and immediately reached for his leg. Further examinations would reveal that Lillard had torn his Achilles tendon, a notoriously hard injury to recover from, especially for a player who would soon be 35. The Bucks would go on to lose the series, falling short of expectations again. With pressure mounting to keep the team’s championship window open just a crack, the Bucks decided to waive Damian Lillard and free up cap space in order to add Pacers center Myles Turner.
From the outside looking in, it seemed as though Lillard’s career had hit rock bottom. He left Portland, the city that his family still called home and where he himself had spent most of his adult life, in search of the championship that had eluded him his entire career, only to come up short and be off the team two years later. Not to mention the long road he now had ahead of him to recover from his injury and begin playing again.
However, in what might’ve been his career’s darkest moment, something familiar found him again. The Portland Trail Blazers, who had spent the past two seasons trying to rebuild the roster after trading Lillard, offered him a three-year $42 million deal that would allow him to spend his rehab in Portland, alongside his children and an organization that he knew so well. Upon the news that Lillard was returning to Portland, Blazers fans who were heartbroken to see him leave just two years earlier and had watched the Blazers go through the growing pains of the post-Lillard era, were completely re-energized. During his introductory press conference, Lillard said, “It never felt right, not being home.” Last month, the organization held a rally in Pioneer Courthouse Square celebrating Lillard’s return, and it was obvious how much happier both Lillard and Blazers fans have been with him back in Portland. “Just being back in this city, you know, has brought a different type of joy back to my life,” Lillard said while addressing the crowd of thousands at Pioneer Square. While he won’t play until next season, Lillard’s return has injected excitement into a fanbase that surely cannot wait to welcome him back to the Moda Center as a member of the home team.
Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu
