The Portland Trail Blazers made their intentions for the remainder of the 2021-22 NBA season clear when they traded away multiple key rotation players ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
The Trail Blazers wanted to clear as much cap space as possible for this summer, as they traded away CJ McCollum, Robert Covington, and Norman Powell.
The plan going forward is to build the roster up around Damian Lillard, who the team could sign to a monster extension this offseason to make him the highest-paid player in the league into his mid-30s. With multiple first-round picks and plenty of cap space, that is certainly feasible.
However, his status for the remainder of the season remained up in the air at the time. Lillard underwent abdominal surgery in January and no timetable was provided. However, we now know that his operation will end his season.
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As shared by The Athletic, Lillard will not return to the court this season. With a limited number of games remaining in the season and Portland not actively looking to move up in the standings, this seemed like a move that would be coming all along.
“Damian Lillard will miss the remainder of the season following recovery from abdominal surgery in January, sources said. Lillard is making tremendous progress and has looked strong in workouts, according to sources, but the team decided it was best for Lillard’s rehab process to sit the remaining 12 games as the Trail Blazers play their group of young players. Lillard last played on Dec. 31 against the Lakers.”
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Lillard will now be afforded the chance to continue rehabbing and preparing for the 2022-23 season. Based on some of the things that he has said, we could see an even better version of him as he was unaware how much this abdominal injury was actually impacting him the last few seasons.
If Lillard returns to the dominant version of himself that we had become accustomed to seeing before this season, the Portland Trail Blazers should return to contending for a playoff spot as early as next season. Who will be on the court with him, is another question.
This will be an important offseason for whoever is running the front office. Whether Joe Cronin has the interim tag removed or someone else is brought in, they are getting a nearly clean slate with a superstar to build around.
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While Portland isn’t considered a destination for free agents, it could be a sought-after job for some front office personnel as there are a lot of assets to be used this offseason in the draft and free agency.
