Damian Lillard is coming home to Portland. While his on-court return for the Trail Blazers will have to wait until his Achilles is healed, that won’t stop us from sharing our opinions about it today.
Some of the staff here at Blazer’s Edge wanted to offer our individual takes about Dame’s homecoming: how we feel, what it means for fans and the franchise, and whatever else came to our collective minds.
We also asked Oregon Senator (and noted Trail Blazers fan) Ron Wyden if he wanted to participate. Despite his busy schedule, he graciously accepted the invitation.
Ron Wyden: US Senator, Oregon
I was in my Senate office when my son called to ask if this great news could possibly be true. Happily for all of Rip City, this wonderful moment is true. What a powerful testament to the deep bonds Damian Lillard and this franchise have carved out with Trail Blazers fans in my hometown and throughout Oregon. I can’t wait for the first time Dame plays again in the red-and-black at the Moda Center where he’s fully earned the love of all fans for what he’s accomplished on and off the court in our community.
As one of those fans, I know that moment must wait for him to fully recover from his injury. But I have no doubt that being home in Portland with his family will help that recovery so that once again we all can cheer for this most iconic Trail Blazer.
Adrian Bernecich: Columnist and Contributor
Because of the time difference, all the good stuff seems to happen while I’m asleep. Consequently, when I woke up, I did have to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
Honestly, my first reaction was the Blazers got all that stuff in the Dame trade and now Dame for the Mid-Level Exception. Sure, he won’t play next season and, sure, he won’t be the same prime Dame, but this is a great day for the Blazers franchise on and off the court.
Thanks to his departure, this team now has the players Lillard desperately needed while he was here. Whether Lillard starts or comes off the bench next season remains to be seen but having him on the court in Blazers colors again should elicit pure joy for this fanbase.
This move clearly focuses the microscope on Scoot Henderson. The young guard needs to show he’s worthy of a place in the Blazers backcourt. Fortunately, he’ll have Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard in his ear, giving him the best chance to succeed.
But it might also make him expendable.
Paul Navarre: Contributor and Social Media Wizard
What an amazing turn of events! For some time it felt like there would always be a fracture between Damian Lillard and the Blazers. Lillard wanted out, and any hint at a future return seemed hopelessly optimistic, or at a minimum quite distant. At the same time the Blazers had let Lillard down. Everyone, from the front office to fans to Lillard himself had a sour taste in their mouths about his departure.
No one wanted a return to be under these circumstances, namely a failed chase for a ring and a devastating injury. As it turns out though, everyone wanted a return, and perhaps even more than we thought. It would have been easier for the Blazers to put off a reunion for at least a few seasons. It would have been easier for Lillard to wait to sign in 2026 with a true contender. But both sides realized that Portland was where Lillard belonged, where he needed to be. Maybe there will be a fairytale ending to this story, maybe not. But one thing has become clear, Lillard will be happier trying to make things work in Portland, and that fact in turn fills me with joy. It’s a great day to be a Blazer!
Conor Bergin: Associate Editor
How can you not be romantic about Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers?
Since getting a press credential last summer, I’ve mostly tried to keep my background as a lifelong Trail Blazers fan out of my stories in the name of journalistic objectivity and unbiased analysis. However, in this case, the compelling story surrounding Lillard’s unexpected return to Portland seems so much less about level-headed basketball analysis and so much more about the emotion of it all. I don’t want to hear about defense or roster construction or financial implications right now. There’s got to be time and ways to figure all that out later. Besides, this move is about reuniting the special connection between Lillard and this city. It’s about restoring the balance of the Universe.
Like many basketball fans who grew up in Portland during the 21st Century, Lillard was my sports hero. So much of his previous 11-season run with the franchise took place during my formative years. I was 13 when the Blazers drafted Lillard. I was 15 when he eliminated the Houston Rockets from the playoffs with that euphoric, drought-ending buzzer-beater. And I was 20 when he waved goodbye to the Oklahoma City Thunder with another series-clinching buzzer-beater. Iconic moments like those, plus the way he embraced my hometown with so much pride, reserved such a rare reverence for Lillard in my eyes.
For those exact reasons, I’m only half-joking when I say that Lillard’s messy departure in 2023 felt like the final step in the loss of childhood innocence at age 24. It punctured this fairytale faith I maintained that somehow, some way, Lillard would win a championship with this franchise. It was the final confirmation that the good guys don’t always win, dreams don’t always come true.
Now that Lillard is returning, his departure no longer feels like the end of the dream. The last two years are now just the rock-bottom chapter in Lillard’s winding odyssey to fulfill his destiny and get to the NBA mountaintop with the Trail Blazers. I know it’s almost delusional to say that, but my thoughts can’t help but go there.
Brandon Mullen: Editor and Contributor
I have push notifications for the Blazer’s Edge news channel in Slack. As I was parking my car, I saw that Conor shared a Shams tweet. Then I saw Conor had @ mentioned the entire channel. I clicked the link. Dame is coming home.
My first thought is that it was fake. It’s fake, right? Did we just get NBA Centel’d? A few frantic moments later it was real that it was real, and there’s nothing realer as a Blazers fan than what I felt learning Dame was coming home. I’ll leave the analysis to smarter people and just say this: as a person, as a Damian Lillard fan, as a Blazers fan, and as someone who has been through a few things the last few months, this punched me square in the soul in the best possible way.
This is a rare moment in sports that transcends the game. Dame truly loves Portland. Both he and Blazers GM Joe Cronin had to put their egos aside for this to work, and they did. It’s the kind of thing little kids dream could happen with their traded-away favorite player. The kind of dream that never comes true. But this time, it did. The little kid in me is thrilled, and the adult in me is happy to step out of the way and let myself feel that feeling.
Source link
