Dame heads back home after two years with the Bucks
After being waived and stretched by the Milwaukee Bucks, star point guard Damian Lillard is reportedly heading back to the Portland Trail Blazers, per Shams Charania of ESPN. The deal is for three years and is worth $42m ($14m average annual value) and not only does it have a player option for the 2026–2027 season, but a full no-trade clause.
FROM SHAMS:
BREAKING: Nine-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard is finalizing a three-year, $42 million contract to return to the Portland Trail Blazers, sources tell ESPN. Deal is expected to include a player option in 2027-28 and a no-trade clause. A storybook reunion home for the 35-year-old.
— Shams Charania Tweets (& Other NBA News) (@shamsbot.bsky.social) 2025-07-17T21:19:51.951029+00:00
Shams continued to fill in more details about how this signing came together, reporting the following:
“Lillard and the Trail Blazers both deeply cared about the comeback in recent weeks—with multiple meetings among the Portland franchise icon, general manager Joe Cronin and head coach Chauncey Billups to bond together and move forward united on a new deal.”
From the reports that continue to come out from Shams, it looks like Lillard will sit out the entirety of the 2025–26 season, using it to rehab his torn Achilles. Throughout this process, Dame returning home to where his family and kids are was of the utmost importance to him. That truly seemed to be on his mind the most, with him reportedly getting offers of both the mid-level exception and veteran’s minimum from NBA contenders. The details of all of this are still being worked out by Dame’s agent and the Blazers, which will also affect the cap hit the Bucks will carry on their books for his stretched salary.
While there have been questions about who Blazers GM Joe Cronin has run the team over the last few years, he has done some good work with the Dame and Jrue Holiday trades. In those trades, they got Toumani Camara, Robert Williams, and other assets. Now they have Dame, Holiday, Camara, Williams, and three first-rounders from the Bucks (unprotected in 2029 and two pick swaps).
FROM SHAMS:
Portland traded Damian Lillard for Jrue Holiday, Toumani Camara, assets in 2023 – then Holiday to Boston for Robert Williams III, Malcolm Brogdon, assets (one led to Deni Avdija).
Now, Blazers have Lillard and Holiday, plus Avdija, Williams, Camara, a 2029 first, two MIL swaps.
— Shams Charania Tweets (& Other NBA News) (@shamsbot.bsky.social) 2025-07-17T21:45:06.372906+00:00
It’s a bit of a storybook potential end for Dame’s career, for him to come back to the team where he made his mark in the NBA. Personally, I’m glad he didn’t go to the Boston Celtics, after Jayson Tatum had been recruiting the free agent point guard to play for the C’s. It was bad enough to see one former fan favorite All-Star point guard in Celtics green, but I don’t think Bucks fans would have been able to handle seeing Dame there either.
While the partnership was short between Dame and Giannis, it was one of the most entertaining two-year stretches for the Milwaukee Bucks. Having two of the best 75 players to ever play the game, and the feeling of seeing that tweet hit our phones was sensational. While it never lived up to that hype and hope due to injuries to Giannis and Dame, it was still fun to watch them play together.
We wish Dame a speedy recovery back home in Portland and can’t wait to see him at Fiserv Forum in 2026.