Damian Lillard has returned with the blazers of the path: good move or bad move? Also, other NBA meetings we would like to see
Dame Time is again in Portland. Damian Lillard agreed a 3 -year agreement to return to the Blazer of the Path, after the Bucks gave up the Stellar Guard at the beginning of this month. Lillard, who is recovering from a torn Achille tendon, has spent his first 11 seasons in Portland and should be ready for the 2026-27 season. What should we do with the meeting? Let’s break down.
Good move or bad for ladies?
Dan Devine: Big Moved for ladies. Lillard returns to the franchise where he is a legend, in the city where he is a man made and, above all of everything, at home where he can be with his three children every day – a huge Improvement of the quality of life for a player who had been very vocal on the difficulties of being far from his family during his two years in Milwaukee.
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Oh, and Dame will get the average level exception not taxpayer from $ 14.1 million blazers on a three -year agreement. Is provided with a player option for 2027-28-Potenially allowing him to return to the free agency without restrictions for another great score at the age of 37- AND A complete non-trade clause. So: between his renounced and close agreement with the Bucks and the new agreement with the blazers, Lillard’s lined up to earn $ 141 million in the next two seasons; to take all next year to rehabilitate its surgically sheltered Achilles; to do it from the comforts of his home; to put a deplorable period behind him; and return to a city that loves it. Nice work if you can get it.
Ben Rohrbach: Great move. Who doesn’t like a big meeting? He didn’t even seem that Lillard had ever been completely sold to the idea of leaving Portland, the future Hall of Famer loved him so much. To have the opportunity to finish his career from where he started, guiding the next generation of Great Blazer, it is stuff from a fairytale book. In the meantime, he is paid handsomely to rehabilitate his torn Achille tendon. What exactly does not like?
Dan Titus: Good move, for sure. Sometimes it is deeper than basketball. Lillard returns to a beloved fan and franchise base that supported him during his career as Hall of Fame. He could have chasing the rings, but instead Lillard chose the family. In the end, a ridiculous amount of money is paid in the next two seasons to rehabilitate an Achille injury in which we don’t know how he will appear when he returns. Lillard joins a young ascending team, has earned a clause without trade and will retire as the best blazer in history. It looks like a victory throughout the line.
Good move or bad move for the blazers?
Rohrbach: Meh? He will sell tickets to Portland on his return, but will the blazers really want to return the keys to a high -level 36 -year -old who has rehabilitated by a devastating injury now, when the franchise will be years in the process of emerging from Lillard’s Shadow? It depends on the fact that Lillard is willing to accept a reduced role behind any young emerging talent.
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Tito: With the ownership of Paul Allen who announces the sale of the team, I understand the decision to regain a star that can help guide the revenue during a sale. The blazers also wisely drawn up Yang Hansen, which gives a wider appeal to the global public. Optically, it is the right move. As for basketball, it is more than a wait. I’m not sure how to report Dame accelerates the development of Scoot Henderson. Probably suffocate it in some way, but overall I like the way Portland has remodeled his list and is approaching a contender who a pretender.
Devine: The first thing is before: it’s okay for Portland, it doesn’t matter how it works on the pitch. I’m not sure nobody is ever involved here Truly He wanted Dame to go; Now, all parties involved have a second possibility and the blazers can offer their customers paying the gift of a meeting that turn on the heart. Even in an activity based on results such as professional basketball, championships are not the only thing that matters. Even the way this stuff feels is important. And this, close as I can say, feels really well In Portland.
There are reasonable questions on the field to consider. What will the Blazer backccourt be like in the autumn of 2026, with Lillard ready to return, Jrue Holiday had to 34.8 million dollars for his 36 -year -old season, Shadon Sharpe perhaps starting the extension for which he is suitable now and Scoot Henderson becomes admissible to integration? How will the introduction of a post-achille ladder will alter the infrastructure and functioning of a blazer team that started developing a defense identity last season? Is there anything enough to put Portland in place for the type of post -installation type of dispute that has pursued before the pandemic?
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Those questions and others will find the answers soon soon. The bet here, however, is that what the blazers earn in bringing ladies home – emotionally and spiritually, if not necessarily practically – far exceeds what they could lose on the field in the deal.
What is another NBA meeting you would like to see?
Tito: Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City. It would be nice to see KD, one of the stopping points of the franchise, give him another more with the franchise that raised him. The expiry date has probably passed since OKC has become the best team in basketball and is established for success for the years to come. However, I think it would be a good sending for the illustrious but complex career of KD.
Devine: We report Kyle Lowry and Demar Derozan for a last lap in Toronto. They contributed to transforming birds of prey into a constantly competitive and serious organization; Lowry has collected the fruits of those efforts with the 2019 NBA championship, but Derozan, sent to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard, has never done. It would be nice to see them get a season full of flowers launched at their feet north of the border before they both left.
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Rohrbach: Give me Lebron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers – somehow, in some way. They would have had a real possibility of competing for a championship with him in the mix on the wing, and would not be a full-time moment for probably the biggest career-and certainly the longest-in the history of sport?
True or false: when Dame faces Milwaukee for the first time as a blazer, Giannis will still be a dollar.
Tito: REAL. I expect Dame to return for the 2026-27 season. It could be a pious desire, but Giannis has constantly shown loyalty to Milwaukee. Except for a terrible imminent season, Giannis will be a dollar until his option as a 62 million dollar player will come out in 2027-28.
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Rohrbach: False. Although I do not also foresee the return of Lillard to the 2026-27 campaign, it is already in the best interest of Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks to negotiate a successful trade. For now, it seems that both sides are open to find a journey forward together, but sooner or later – as soon as it becomes clear to them, it cannot win another title in Milwaukee – they should open its exit.
Devine: REAL. Every year we talk about Giannis who puts himself and does not do it every year. At this point, I think he is going when I really see him lift a new shirt in a press conference.