Damian Lillard returned to the Portland Trail Blazers after getting waived by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Celtics’ Final Offer to Damian Lillard Surfaces After Blazers Move originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
On Thursday, news broke that All-Star guard Damian Lillard has re-joined the Portland Trail Blazers on a three-year, $42 million deal (h/t Shams Charania of ESPN).
Lillard spent the first 11 seasons of his NBA career with the Trail Blazers before requesting a trade in 2023. The Trail Blazers ultimately sent the Oakland native to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he spent the last two years of his career. Milwaukee waived him after he suffered an Achilles injury to sign Myles Turner.
The 35-year-old, despite dealing with an Achilles injury, was reportedly a hot commodity this offseason with multiple teams pursuing him. This includes the Boston Celtics, who reportedly had a final offer for him.
Based on the latest reports, it seemed that the Celtics had true interest in Lillard. Furthermore, star forward Jayson Tatum was reportedly communicating with the Weber State alum, even attempting to recruit him to Boston (h/t Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe).
Ultimately, while the Celtics did not land Lillard, it was not without trying. According to Charania, Boston was among multiple teams that made an offer to him before he decided to rejoin the Trail Blazers.
"Boston, Minnesota, dozens of other teams had minimum and mid-level exception offers out to Damian Lillard in the last several weeks," Charania said.
The Boston Celtics offered Damian Lillard the MLE but he chose to go back to Portland instead, per @ShamsCharania
— Playoff BOS (@PlayoffBOS) July 18, 2025
At this point in his career, it seems that family takes top priority over winningpic.twitter.com/ynGTEni2cW
It is unlikely that Lillard will play next year with his Achilles injury, though nothing is official. Regardless, this is still a fun story that has come out of this offseason, and it will be exciting to see Lillard suit up where he began his career down the line.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
