Milwaukee Bucks point guard Damian Lillard was traded this offseason from the Portland Trail Blazers. On Wednesday night, with tipoff scheduled for 9 p.m. CT, Lillard will be playing at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon for the first time since the trade.
This will most likely be a very warm reception for the Blazers fanbase when the time comes for Lillard’s homecoming on Wednesday night. He spent his entire career with the Portland franchise before coming to Milwaukee.
He told the Associated Press on Tuesday by saying:
“I loved the organization. I loved everybody I went to work with every day. And I think what made it the hardest is it wasn’t a wasn’t a broken relationship. So coming back, being able to be here, I’m in a great situation. The reason it all came about in the first place was for a chance to win it all. We couldn’t be at that place at the same time. So I come back with love, and I’m excited to be back in the Moda Center.”
Lillard this season with the Bucks is averaging 25.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 6.8 APG, 0.2 BPG, and 1.1 SPG, in 44 games played. Milwaukee this season is 32-15 (record) and is currently the second seed in the Eastern Conference. As for the Portland Trail Blazers, they have a 14-33 record and the 14th seed in the Western Conference.
The Bucks are in win-now mode. The Trail Blazers are in rebuild mode.
Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups Talks About Damian Lillard Ahead of Wednesday’s Matchup Against the Milwaukee Bucks
Billups spoke to the Associated Press also on Tuesday about Lillard returning to Portland on Wednesday for the matchup against the Bucks. He said:
“In the situation that we’re in, you don’t want to see him in that type of spot where we’re doing what we’re doing and he’s out there bumping and grinding and scrapping and clawing and getting 30s and 40s and we can barely win those games. It was just a tough situation to be in for him. But he never complained about it. He’s just a soldier. He came to work and did the best he could every single time. I respect that about him.”
Damian Lillard was very loyal to the Portland Trail Blazers organization for the longest time. He is 33 years old and has yet to win an NBA Championship. The furthest Lillard has gone in the NBA playoffs in his career was in 2019 to the Western Conference Finals before getting swept to Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
Lillard is in a better situation now with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. He went to Weber State for college and was the sixth overall pick (first-round selection in the 2012 NBA Draft). Damian Lillard should receive nothing but a warm ovation from the Portland Trail Blazers fanbase on Wednesday night and he should get a quality video tribute from themselves at well.
