DHJ Quick Take<\/p>\n
Lillard\u2019s Potential Return: After missing the entire 2025\u201326 regular season recovering from a torn left Achilles, Damian Lillard has reportedly not been ruled out for a \u201csurprise appearance\u201d in the 2026 NBA playoffs. <\/p>\n
Pursuit of Giannis: The Portland Trail Blazers are preparing an offseason trade pitch for Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n
Strategic Advantage: Portland aims to leverage the close relationship between the two stars and their stockpile of future draft picks to facilitate a reunion in Oregon.<\/p>\n
According to Bill Oram of The Oregonian<\/a>, Damian Lillard<\/a> could play in the 2026 NBA playoffs and the Portland Trail Blazers are prepared to make a pitch for Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> this offseason.<\/p>\n Lillard, who played two seasons with Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee, didn\u2019t play during the 2025-26 regular season because of the torn left Achilles tendon he suffered last April. <\/p>\n Antetokounmpo, who is expected to be traded this offseason, has a close relationship with Lillard.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever implausible it may seem, the franchise has not completely ruled out the possibility that Lillard could make a surprise appearance in the postseason this year, multiple sources said,\u201d Oram wrote. \u201cObviously, the longer its run lasts, the more realistic such a long-shot scenario becomes.<\/p>\n \u201cA source said Lillard is \u2018close\u2019 and that his return before the end of the postseason is \u2018not impossible.\u2019 Any appearance would need to be in a later round or \u2018deep, deep\u2019 in the series against the Spurs. At a minimum, the team is being open-minded about the possibility. \u2026 Having Lillard back, especially on a bargain $14 million contract, makes the Blazers better on the court, but it also gives the front office greater urgency to go all in and chase other stars. The Blazers are prepared to make a pitch for Giannis Antetokounmpo as long as he is willing to sign an extension but are not likely to limit their options to Lillard\u2019s former Milwaukee teammate.\u201d<\/p>\n As of this writing, the Blazers are down 2-1 to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2026 playoffs.<\/p>\n Lillard was waived and stretched by the Bucks last July and signed a three-year, $42 million deal with the Blazers. Milwaukee didn\u2019t consult Antetokounmpo before parting ways with Lillard, sources told Dallas Hoops Journal.<\/p>\n A top 75 player of all time, Lillard has made nine All-Star teams and seven All-NBA teams in his NBA career. He won the 2012-13 Rookie of the Year Award with the Blazers and has career averages of 25.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game with Portland and Milwaukee. The future Hall of Famer is fifth in NBA history in 3-point field goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last season with the Bucks, Lillard averaged 24.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game. The guard tore his left Achilles tendon in Game 4 of Milwaukee\u2019s first-round loss to the Indiana Pacers.<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo played in only 36 games this season because of injuries. He averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. The Bucks, who missed the playoffs this season for the first time since 2016, went 17-19 when Antetokounmpo played.<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo has spent his entire NBA career with the Bucks. He\u2019s a two-time MVP, one-time Finals MVP, one-time Defensive Player of the Year and 10-time All-Star. Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee to the 2021 championship in six games against the\u00a0Phoenix Suns. The Bucks have won only one playoff series since then.<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo will make $58.5 million next season. He has a player option worth $62.8 million for the 2027-28 season. The forward is eligible to sign a four-year, $275 million extension with the Bucks on October 1. If he declines the extension, Antetokounmpo will be traded, according to Milwaukee co-owner\u00a0Wes Edens.<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo holds career averages of 24.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. It will be intriguing to see where he\u2019s playing next season. <\/p>\n Lillard and Antetokounmpo reuniting on the Blazers would certainly be fun to watch. The Bucks went 73-43 in the regular season when Lillard and Antetokounmpo were in the lineup. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DHJ Quick Take Lillard\u2019s Potential Return: After missing the entire 2025\u201326 regular season recovering from a torn left…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,102,121,3871,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-718422","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-bucks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bucks","10":"tag-milwaukee","11":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","12":"tag-milwaukeebucks","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116470099700603596","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}