Damian Lillard Talks Offseason, Health, Future Goals

The Trail Blazers have lost 11 of 13 games since the All-Star break and rank dead-last in both offensive rating (102.1) and defensive rating (124.3) during that time. After a solid early start to the season, Portland is on track to finish with one of the six or seven worst records in the NBA.

However, star point guard Damian Lillard tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that there’s “no way” next year’s team will be in the same position as the current version. While Lillard acknowledges that the Blazers have “taken some steps back as an organization” by trading away veterans like CJ McCollum, Norman Powell, and Robert Covington last month, he believes the club is well-positioned to add talent this offseason.

“We’ve opened up money, we got (draft) picks, we got a $22 million trade exception, we got a $6 million trade exception, we got the full mid-level, we got the bi-annual,” Lillard said to Haynes. “We have an opportunity, and we got flexibility. There are guys we can bring in that can make us a team that can compete for a championship, but we have to execute that.”

Lillard went on to say that he doesn’t view next season as a championship-or-bust year for Portland, but he’s hopeful that the team will take a major step forward after a disappointing 2021/22 season. He views this summer as “critical” one for the Blazers’ goal of moving back toward title contention.

Here are a few more of the notable comments the All-Star guard made during his conversation with Haynes, which is worth checking out in full:

On whether he’s still dealing with any abdominal pain after undergoing surgery to address a long-standing issue:

“No. It’s the first time that I can say I was pain-free since maybe 2016, 2017. I think that’s when I first started having issues. That was the last time I was probably moving freely, easily and just flowing the way I am right now. It’s a good feeling working out the other day and the coaching staff kept asking what I was thinking about because I had a smile on my face. I was just like, ‘Damn, I got so used to playing with that pain that I didn’t realize how limited I was and how much I was just catering to playing around it.’ So, I’m definitely excited to be playing at 100 percent right now and playing free.”

On why, at age 31, he believes his best is yet to come:

“This is my first time being able to take a step back and just fully address my development. Over the course of my career, there have always been things that I’ve wanted to correct or get better at, but maybe I had a long season and went into the playoffs and then we had a quick turnaround.

“Whatever the case may be, I never had this much time to fully break down my game and really challenge myself development-wise. Working on things that I’m not comfortable with all the time, things that other guys at my position do really well. I’ve had a window of time and opportunity to add to my game and to watch film with my coaches and trainers to really address those things that a lot of times might be uncomfortable.”

On whether he’s still solely focused on winning a title in Portland:

“That’s the only thing I care about, honestly. It seems like after I announced that I was having surgery, people were like, ‘Oh, he’s 31 and having this done.’ Man, 31 is not old. … I’m a sniper. I shoot. I got a good step. I can think the game. I can manipulate the game, and I know how to play. My game will age well, and I don’t have a history of injuries. And the one that I just had is not a bad injury to have. I’m going to come back and be fine.

“Like I said, my best is yet to come. And the only things that I play for at this point is I want to be the MVP of the league and I want to win the championship. And once I do those things, I feel great about the investment that I made to this game over my whole life. If I accomplish those two things, I’m walking away feeling like I literally got the most out of myself as an athlete.”

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