Bucks’ Damian Lillard Signing With West Squad in $42 Million Shocker

Jan 28, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Milwaukee Bucks point guard Damian Lillard (0) looks on before the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images | Soobum Im-Imagn Images

Former Milwaukee Bucks All-Star guard Damian Lillard will return to where it all started.

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Lillard is finalizing a three-year, $42 million contract to return to the Portland Trail Blazers.

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. pic.twitter.com/mm1uUtMgO6

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 17, 2025

Lillard, who spent the first 11 seasons of his career in Portland, will make his triumphant return to the Pacific Northwest.

The 35-year-old All-Star guard suffered a torn Achilles in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs as a member of the Bucks.

Lillard was set to miss most, if not all, of the upcoming season, and the expectation was that he would recover with the Bucks. However, the Bucks shockingly waived and stretched Lillard a few weeks ago in order to sign free agent center Myles Turner.

Instead of recovering in Milwaukee, Lillard will now do so as a member of the Blazers.

In his career with the Bucks, Lillard was spectacular, averaging 24.6 points per game, 7.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals while shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from deep in 131 games and 35.7 minutes of action.

Lillard was drafted sixth overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Blazers. He established himself as one of the best players ever to wear a Blazers jersey. In his career in Portland, he was named Rookie of the Year, a seven-time All-Star, a seven-time All-NBA member and finished inside the top 10 of MVP voting six times.

The Oakland native requested a trade from Portland two summers ago, and was traded in a deal that involved the Bucks, Blazers, and the Phoenix Suns.

Lillard was traded to the Bucks as part of a three-team trade that sent Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara and a 2029 first-round draft pick to the Blazers, and Grayson Allen, Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, and Keon Johnson to Phoenix.

Now, Lillard is back in Portland to finish his career.

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