Blazers’ Damian Lillard Signs Two-Year, $122 Million Extension With Portland: Report

Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is going to be making quite a bit of money in his 30's. 

On Friday, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports first reported that Lillard and the Trail Blazers were close to agreeing to a two-year, nearly $122 million extension to keep the star guard in Portland through the 2026-2027 season. 

“BREAKING: Damian Lillard and Portland Trail Blazers are close to finalizing an agreement on a two-year, close to $122 million max extension, league sources tell ,” Haynes posted to Twitter. 

ESPN’s Bobby Marks later confirmed that the deal was done, adding that the 2026-2027 year was a player option for Lillard. 

 

Lillard is already second all-time in points scored in Portland franchise history – second behind Clyde Drexler – a record he will surely grab next season if he’s able to remain healthy. 

Lillard played in a career-low 29 games during the 2021-2022 NBA season and underwent season-ending abdomen surgery in January. His absence led to a down year for Portland, who missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2012-2013 season. 

“I feel great. It was one of those things that had just been bothering me over the last four and a half years,” Lillard said during an ESPN interview at NBA Summer League. “And I had been able to play through it. After games, practices, it was something that just kept coming up. And then after last season – being a long season going straight into the Olympics – it was killing me during the Olympics. And then obviously this season I was a step slow, I was uncomfortable a lot. I wanted to fight through it. I never want to not play.” 

“I met with some specialists, I had to go under the knife. I got the surgery and it was a pretty aggressive rehab and I got back pretty quick. And then it was just a matter of building my strength back up and getting comfortable with certain movements. And now, my body is stronger than it was before in certain areas just because I had to build it up from scratch,”

Portland has been active this offseason, trading for Jerami Grant of the Detroit Pistons.

“Jerami Grant is a dynamic two-way forward that can impact winning at a high level,” said Trail Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin, according to NBA.com. “He fits seamlessly into Coach Billups’ system on both sides of the ball. We could not be happier to have him in Portland.”

The Trailblazers also selected guard Shaedon Sharpe out of Kentucky with the seventh pick of the NBA Draft.