As he prepares to play Wednesday in his first regular season game since March 18, 2025, Trail Blazers acting out Damian Lillard admits he thought about trying to come back from an Achilles tear during the 2026 postseason. However, he tells Mark J. Spears from Andscape that he ultimately decided it was wiser to take another offseason to make sure he was 100% and regained full confidence in his surgically repaired Achilles tendon.
“The reason I sat out the whole season was because I wanted to check every box,” Lillard said. “I didn’t want to come back limping or thinking, ‘Man, can I do this? Can I do that? What do I stay away from?’
If Lillard’s goal was to make sure he looked and felt like before he returned to the court, then the new head coach Mika Nori considers the mission accomplished, writes Spears.
“There’s really no loss to him — I’m not talking about explosiveness, I’m talking about speed.” – said Nori. “But the other thing, as I tell people, is he hurt his lower body, not his upper body. He can still shoot, so his game doesn’t depend on all that speed. He’s just getting more shots, and we’re finding room for him.
“And the one difference you’re going to see with Dame right now is he’s going to get off the ball a little bit more than earlier in his career. We can still play him, obviously, in the pick-and-roll. … He doesn’t have to do all that to be able to find his open shots more in the flow. And you’re seeing him struggle defensively, too.”
Here’s more on the Trail Blazers:
- Inside an interesting story about the Blazers’ 2012 lottery pick Meyers Leonardwho was picked five spots behind Lillard and will be in Portland on Wednesday to see his former teammate return to the Blazers Jason Quick of The Athletic quoted Lillard as saying he “never should have left” Portland. “I never saw (was sold elsewhere) part of my story,” said the veteran guard, who requested a change of scenery in 2023 because of frustration with Blazers management. “The fact that it worked out the way it did — I’m back here, with a really good team, and I’m healthy — it’s just good.”
- Star forward Danny Audio was a surprise inclusion on the Trail Blazers’ first injury report of the season, writes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Audia is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game against Phoenix because of a sore right ankle.
- Failing to reach a rookie-scale extension agreement with the Blazers by Monday’s deadline, Scoot Henderson – the third pick in the 2023 draft – enters his fourth NBA season with more than ever, writes Sean Haykin for The Rose Garden Report (Link to substack). For what it’s worth, Henderson has received rave reviews in recent weeks, with Jrue’s holiday calling him the MVP of the camp and Nori comparing him to the premier Russell WestbrookHaykin notes. “Nothing would make me happier than if we had to pay Scoot a bunch of money next year to keep him.” – said Nori. “He knows he’s an NBA player. He knows he’s going to get another contract. We just hope it’s with the Portland Trail Blazers.”
- Norrie said he intends to use a 10-man rotation, according to Quickwhich suggests that Lillard, Ja Morant, The mists of KamaraAudio and Donovan Klingon there will be the usual snacks, happy holiday, Robert Williamsand Henderson as the main reserve. The ninth is likely to be ahead Sidi Sissokocontinues Quickly, p Vit Krejci, Micah Potterand Brendan Carlson struggle for ordinary minutes.
- Bill Oram of The Oregonian (subscription required) shares the latest developments at the Moda Center in negotiations between the Blazers and the city of Portland, suggesting that wording in the Trail Blazers’ lease requiring the team to maintain the arena in “prime” condition remains an issue. According to Oram, the Blazers owner Tom Dundon insisted that city officials put a dollar amount on that “premium” mandate, and the figure they got back was “over $1 billion,” which Dundon refused. At least one meeting between Dundon and city officials is scheduled this week, but it’s unclear if there will be any others, Oram added.