All-time Trail Blazers great Damian Lillard has agreed to a three-year deal to return to Portland, ESPN's Shams Charania has reported. The deal, the details of which were announced by Charania Thursday afternoon, will be for $42 million over those three years, and includes a player option in the final year, as well as a no-trade clause (atypical of a contract so small, but by no means undeserved).
Lillard, who played 11 seasons for the Trail Blazers in his first stint, will likely miss the entirety of the 2025-26 season as he rehabs from a torn achilles tendon suffered in last season's playoffs, playing with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Earlier this summer, Milwaukee (to whom Portland traded Lillard two summers ago) waived the remaining $113 million owed on the future Hall of Fame guard's contract -- money Lillard is still owed in addition to the roughly $14 million per year he'll be making in Portland.
The chance to return to a community in which he put down roots over the years seems to have been of importance to Lillard, who, as Charania has reported on X, had offers from other teams.
The new contract likely allows Lillard to conclude his career playing for Portland, where most of his family (including his children) remained throughout Lillard's time in Milwaukee. This last factor appears to have given Portland the edge to sign Lillard, though the basketball fit isn't bad either.
New-look Trail Blazers fit Dame's style well, and vice versa
Lillard, who departed the Trail Blazers on relatively cordial terms, despite the team's refusal to trade him to his preferred destination of Miami, returns to a roster far better suited to his skillset than the one he left. Lillard, who has many of the highest-scoring games in NBA history, has never been an elite defender. He now returns to a roster that boasts wing defender Toumani Camara, coming off a season where he earned All-Defensive Second Team honors, as well as an elite defender in Jrue Holiday and emerging rim protector Donovan Clingan.
Portland GM Joe Cronin and head coach Chauncey Billups, meanwhile, had found their team in need of spacing and pure point guard talent. No guard currently on the Trail Blazers' roster shot above league average from three-point range last season. Lillard, known for his explosive offense and logo threes, is one of the best distance shooters of all time.
While fans may have to wait a year to see Lillard launch a three from the tip of the midcourt pinwheel, it's exciting to know the reunion is official. Lillard is home.