Damian Lillard RETURNING to Trail Blazers on $42M deal after being waived by the Bucks | WHAT?! 🤯

Damian Lillard RETURNING to Trail Blazers on $42M deal after being waived by the Bucks | WHAT?! 🤯

We continue to follow breaking news out of the NBA where Damen Lillard will take off that Milwaukee Bucks jersey and head back to the Trailblazers to join Portland. Multiple reports have a three-year deal with Portland and a player option. ESPN adding its $42 million contract to return to the team. There is a no trade clause and that player option is for the 27/28 season. All right, let’s get more thoughts on this news and we bring in Avery Johnson. Coach, what do we make of the news that we’re learning today between Damen Lillard and his old team? Little bit surprised because, you know, I thought at this stage of Damen Lillard’s career, even though he has to sit out uh this upcoming season, I thought he would join a team that would potentially be closer to uh winning the championship. Uh Portland, even with this roster, you know, currently uh organized, uh they’re not a playoff team. They’re not even a playin team. Uh and I don’t see how they’re going to become a playoff team or a championship level team within the next three years. So, I’m somewhat surprised, but at the same time, it’s good when you can always go back home. Um, you know, Damen Lilith’s kids are based in Portland, so maybe he wants to spend more time with his kids and be available for them. Uh, so I think this is probably more about his kids than it is about him chasing a rate, which is what he did a couple years ago. Obviously spent so much time getting the Trailblazers close to a title, at least playing in the finals, which didn’t really happen, of course. And then he joins Giannis and the Bucks for about two years. Coach, how would you describe the Milwaukee timeline for game day time? Yeah, you know, it was very unsuccessful uh underwhelming. Um, you know, he really uh was brought in there to lead help lead Milwaukee back to a championship uh run with Giannis. Uh I don’t you know he wasn’t the same Damen Lillard that played in the Portland Trailblazers uniform. Uh didn’t shoot the ball as well. Struggle uh defensively. Uh and again that’s why I’m surprised uh by this move because you know Portland is bringing him back uh whenever he’s healthy and ready to go to play you know 38 40 minutes a game and try to you know re rewind the clock. I just don’t see it happening with him getting back to that type of player that he was when he left the Trailblazers. So that’s why I thought he would take some sort of a lesser role on a championship caliber team. And like most people, I’m just I’m surprised. I think of a lot of us are we hope to learn more information obviously as the two sides get back together, learn a little bit more about how this all got together. But it can’t we can’t help but be a little nostalgic with the news that he’s going back, right? There’s a lot on social media saying it just feels right for him to come back and he’s hit so many big shots for this team including the one over Paul George as people remember again the nickname Dame time coach. I mean remind us about Peak Damen Lillard and what he was as a shot maker in the league. Oh yeah, he was incredible. Um a guy that you know pretty much was putting together a Hall of Fame type career in Portland. Uh when you thought about the Portland Trailblazers, it started and ended with Damen Lillard. Uh you know, being able to score over anybody and all of those game-winning shots and you know, he’s he’s the Portland Trailblazer. He’s Portland Oregon. You know, this guy did so much for the community. Uh did so much on and off the court. So, I know this is at the same time, while some of us may be surprised, this is going to be a boost for for the Portland Trailblazers fans because they know at some point, even if it’s in the 26 27 season, they’re going to get their beloved Damen Lillard back in a Trailblazers uniform and they want him to retire a Portland Trailblazer because that’s what I’m imagining from what I’ve heard. He has a no trade clause. Coach, I got to hear get you out of here on this. And yes, we heard about the no trade clause and I think you’re right about that. The Achilles injury and given he’s in his mid30s here, you’re a perfect person to ask about what type of player we expect from Damen Lillard when he actually returns to the court in a season’s plus time. Yes, it’s one of the toughest injuries to return from. You know, you you rather have a sprained ankle, you know, some sort of a strained hamstring groin. But when you talk about um you know a sprained knee, when you talk about a you know that Achilles, that is a tough injury. But we’ve gotten you know some recent evidence. You know Kevin Durant came back from it and and now you know you have Jason Tatum dealing with it. Uh you know Tyrese Hallebertton. So doctors have gotten be even better and more clever as they you know perform these surgeries. So, I’m sure, you know, he had an incredible medical team and I’m banking that his rehab is going to be unbelievable and maybe he’ll get back on the court sooner rather than later. That’s NBA champ Avery Johnson joining us with the breaking news that it will be Dame’s time once again in Rick City, but we’ll have to wait a little while. Again, won’t be joining this team this year. Vegas certainly thinks not highly of this team. Just 33 and a2 is the win total for the Portland Trailblazers in 25/26. All right, let’s break it all down with John Gonzalez here. So, I guess you can go back home. I know he’s a Bay Area guy, but you know what I mean. Pacific Northwest, Portland, and Dame. What do we think? Yeah, from Dame’s perspective, this is great, Tommy. I mean, I was one of the people that was saying, “Look, he’s going to have to rehab anyway. Dame doesn’t need the money. I don’t know what the rush is. The landscape in the NBA can change pretty dramatically year-over-year. And I was thinking that, you know, as he’s rehabbing this Achilles, he should just wait until next off seasonason and then pick the best spot for him to go ring hunting. This makes sense, though, because as you noted, best player in Blazers history. Spent his entire career there with the exception of this brief sbatical that he had in Milwaukee. So, he gets to go home again. Three for 42 is pretty great between what you’re going to get from the Blazers over the next few years and what he’s going to get from the Bucks. Just next year, Tommy, he’s going to make $70 million from those two teams. And then over the next two years, he’s going to make $141 million. And on top of all that, Tommy, this is the part where it starts to make I mean, from Dave’s perspective, this is fantastic. Not only does he get a player option in the final season, which is rich enough, but to really sweeten this thing beyond really understanding for me from the Blazers perspective is the no trade clause. I mean, look, if you’re Dame, you’re ecstatic, but somebody in Portland is going to have to explain to me how you’re going to give a guy who’s 36 coming off an Achilles a player option and a no trade. So, remind me if you can and maybe some others who don’t pay attention to Trailblazers basketball because we have seen Dane from time to time with Yiannis and the Bucks. What type of team do we see them now post uh you know the trade to Milwaukee over especially over last season. What type of team have the Trailblazers been on the court? Yeah, interesting. Right. Uh last year I was one of the people again advocating for them to go full tank mode. They decided no no no we’ve got some really nice young interesting pieces here. Denny Aia Tumani Kamaro who made all defense. They ended up trading Anthony Simons but they bring back Drew Holiday in that deal. They’ve got Scoot Henderson who’s on the rise and Shaden Sharp. They also unplugged DeAndre Aiden from that really complicated center situation. So now they’ve got more room for Donovan Klingan. And they drafted just now Chinese uh Joker Yang Hansen who’s a really interesting piece. The whole point here is that the Western Conference is loaded, but they do have some really nice young interesting pieces on the Trailblazers. I don’t know that that redowns to them being uh Western Conference contenders. Certainly, I doubt that they’ll make the playoffs proper, but a playin scenario that’s on the table for the Blazers this year. And then a year on when Dame finally comes back from his Achilles, you’ll get a veteran presence back in that locker room. That’s a team that could make some disruptions moving forward. I mean, maybe win a series. I doubt two, but they’re they’re a nice young upand cominging team for when Dame returns. And then lastly here, what concerns, if any, do you have of Damen Lillard as he recovers from injury? Yeah, the Achilles is a really difficult one, right? I mean, an ACL is almost routine these days. you can come back from that pretty pretty quickly with Kyrie Irving is one of those players who’s recovering and rehabbing from an ACL right now. And Achilles, as we saw a rash of them towards the end of the season, whether that’s due to playing too many games or going deep into the season, but you had one from Jason Tatum, you had one from Tyrese Hallebertton, and of course from Damen Lillard. You don’t want to see that happen to any player, but for a player who’s going to be 36 years old when he comes off of the Achilles, it’s not like he’s just going to hit the court and look like the old Damen Lillard right away. It’s going to take some time, not only for him to get back uh to being fully healthy, but also for him to look like the Damen Lillard or any approximation that he was previously. So, long road ahead of Damen Lillard still and so also for the Portland Trailblazers. Yep. Going to miss the entire 25/26 season, but rejoining a team and a franchise that he knows all too well. John Gonzalez with the insight here on the breaking news again that Dame time headed back to Rift City and the Pacific Northwest. [Music]

Avery Johnson and John Gonzalez join CBS Sports HQ to react to the STUNNING news in the NBA, as Damian Lillard is back home in Portland.

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