Damian Lillard Returns to Portland Trail Blazers | NBA Trade News - video Dailymotion

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00:00Elsewhere, more contract news as we go to the NBA.

00:03A rather shocking development, but cool just from the nostalgia perspective of Damian Lillard

00:09returning to his NBA home of Portland.

00:12He spent the past two years in Milwaukee, a disaster for Dame and the Bucs,

00:17but the first 11 of his NBA career in the Rose City.

00:21Dame is back with the Blazers on a three-year, $42 million deal.

00:25That includes a no-trade clause and a player option for the 2027-28 season.

00:30Does this change things for Portland this upcoming year?

00:34No. Dame is recovering from a ruptured Achilles that he suffered in the playoffs

00:38against the Indiana Pacers.

00:40He just turned 35 on Tuesday.

00:42Happy belated B-Day to Dame, by the way, but he is back in Portland.

00:46It's cool, DRS. It's nostalgic.

00:49But again, we kind of thought that Dame would maybe go to a surefire championship contender.

00:54The Blazers, even with some young talent, are not that.

00:59I mean, I guess you could just equate it to this.

01:01Like, you see Milwaukee, like Giannis?

01:02Like, nobody's a free agent who wants to go live in Milwaukee.

01:05They don't.

01:05So you got to keep your superstar happy and cut Dame Lillard and pay a ton of money

01:09to get other players, which doesn't make any sense on your roster

01:11and probably won't make you better.

01:13Portland's the same way.

01:14No superstar wants to go to Portland there.

01:15So you go, oh, well, Dame actually wants to be back here,

01:18and this is going to hurt us?

01:19It sort of brings back those vibes where Kobe Bryant was in L.A.

01:22Great basketball player, horrendous basketball team,

01:26but maybe he could sell a couple extra seats and be a star in the building.

01:29That's Dame.

01:30And also from a perspective of what Dame wants,

01:32Dame just doesn't care about championships, and that's okay.

01:34Like, he makes a lot of money.

01:35He can do that and continue to lose in Portland.

01:37Get out of it both ways, I guess.

01:40Listen, Kobe got five in L.A.

01:41as we make those comparisons.

01:43More on Dame later.

01:44We also, Fonseca, want to talk some NBA offseason drama.

01:48But Damian Lillard signing a three-year, $42 million deal

01:53to return to the Portland Trailblazers.

01:56The past two seasons in Milwaukee, that didn't work.

01:59The first 11 years of his career,

02:02maybe the most notable Trailblazer of all time.

02:06But Fonseca, we talked about, after he was released,

02:10waived, and then stretched over the final five,

02:12or the next five years by the Bucs,

02:15Dame would kind of have his pick of the litter.

02:16We thought he would consider a championship contender,

02:20either this year, as he recovers from a ruptured Achilles,

02:23or even a start 2026-27.

02:27So, outside of the sentimental value,

02:29why did Dame choose Portland again?

02:33Well, people have speculated whether or not

02:35this is about his personal stuff that's going on.

02:39I'm not going to, like, get deep into that.

02:42But I do wonder if, you know,

02:44because there's a world where,

02:46because it doesn't make sense if you're trying to win a title,

02:48if you're Damian Lillard and you care about that.

02:50But maybe he just needs to go home

02:51and handle some business for a little while.

02:52You know what I mean?

02:54And the puzzling thing for me was the no trade clause,

02:57which also tells me, if Damian Lillard wants to,

02:59now this is kind of like a half-baked conspiracy theory,

03:02but is he just going home to take care of

03:04what he has to take care of, rehab at the crib,

03:07and then after a year, try to get moved to a contender,

03:09and actually the team he wants

03:11because he wanted to go to the Heat before.

03:13And then he ended up in Milwaukee

03:14and was open to going to the Nets, reportedly,

03:17but ended up going to Milwaukee.

03:18So there's kind of a world where it's like,

03:21all right, let's try this again,

03:22even though I'm going to be a little bit older.

03:24I'll rehab, I'll handle what I got to handle,

03:27and then go somewhere else with my no trade clause

03:31because I can just force myself out.

03:33I don't think, I don't know if that's going to happen.

03:35Like, maybe he just really loves it there

03:36and just wants to retire there.

03:38I don't think he ever wanted to leave to begin with,

03:40but it just made sense in terms of wanting

03:41to try to capitalize on what was left of his prime.

03:44And now we could all agree,

03:46like, his prime is probably done.

03:48That's not to say he still can't be

03:49a really good player, though,

03:50even if he has to be relegated

03:52to a seventh, eighth man a year.

03:54But having an Achilles at this stage of your career

03:56in your mid-30s when you've been in the league

03:58for 10-plus years is tough.

03:59And I do think that, like, when he comes back,

04:02he could still be a really good player.

04:03I would just personally want to see it on a better team.

04:07I don't think Portland's terrible.

04:09I think they're actually going to be, like,

04:11pretty fun to watch.

04:12Like, if you're a lead pass junkie this year,

04:14they have some guys, and we'll see, like,

04:16seriously, like, Danny Adveja,

04:18Tumani Kamara, Scoot Henderson.

04:20Like, we'll see what some of these guys can become.

04:22Hanson Young.

04:23Who else?

04:25Who am I missing?

04:26Oh, okay.

04:26Hanson Young.

04:27No, Mr. Hanson Young.

04:29Yeah.

04:29Yeah, yeah.

04:29He looks like he's going to be really good, potentially,

04:34even though people thought he was drafted too soon.

04:37So I think Portland could, like,

04:39are they going to be a play-in team?

04:41I don't know.

04:41But they could be young, fun, and exciting.

04:43I don't know if that's what Damian Lillard,

04:45if he wants to win a championship,

04:46should be around right now.

04:47But again, he could rehab at home.

04:50Why not?

04:50You know?

04:51Just why not?

04:52And then potentially even play for them at some point.

04:55And maybe they're a lot better in a year using some of the draft capital

04:59and the young guys that they have.

05:00But I don't know.

05:01We'll see.

05:02Are we surprised, Brian, that the deal came together so quickly here?

05:05Because it's not a rush.

05:06Like, he's not going to get back on the court, let's just say,

05:08in September, October, or November.

05:10Was there any thoughts?

05:10Because we were hearing, like, behind the scenes, like,

05:12hey, you know what?

05:12The Celtics might be interested if his rehab goes well.

05:15We can use him for a playoff push.

05:16Like, I was just surprised that I was hearing yesterday, like,

05:19oh, he might want to go back to Portland.

05:20And before you know it, within an hour, Brian, he was back in Portland.

05:23It was five minutes.

05:25Zach Lowe tweeted out the rumors.

05:27And then Shams was like, all right, here's the deal.

05:29And I feel like Zach Lowe knew it was coming,

05:31but he just didn't want to, like, you know, go all in with it.

05:34I mean, he's, like, the best at what he does,

05:36but he doesn't try to break news.

05:37And he's upfront about that.

05:38So maybe he just didn't want to.

05:39Anyway, but, like, I find it interesting that it was three years,

05:4342 million with a player option.

05:44Because what that also is is a very tradable contract.

05:47And if Portland does want to, like, quote, unquote,

05:51do right by him this time, like, they can do that.

05:53Or if he just retires there,

05:55then I don't think people are going to, like, be pissed off about it

05:58because he's arguably the best player ever.

06:02It's either him or one other dude.

06:03We know who that is.

06:04And with Damian Lillard, it's just, like, I'm not surprised at the timing,

06:10Donnie, but I just am surprised, I guess, that it is, in fact, Portland.

06:15But when you really think about it, it's like, okay, that makes some sense.

06:19And if I'm Damian Lillard, like, why not get paid this year to rehab with the team

06:24instead of just rehabbing on my own and being out of the league?

06:27Yeah.

06:28Quickly here, Fonseca.

06:29Yes or no?

06:30That's all we have time for.

06:31Does Bradley Beal make the L.A. Clippers better?

06:37Sure.

06:37That was one word.

06:40I'll give you that.

06:41All right, Fonseca.

06:43Have a good weekend, my man.

06:46We appreciate it.

06:47More of the early live.

06:47Reddit.

06:48All right, Fonseca.

06:48All right.

Damian Lillard Returns to Portland Trail Blazers | NBA Trade News

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