Damian Lillard will miss the remainder of the season as he recovers from an abdominal surgery, the Portland Trail Blazers announced.
Although Lillard has made significant progress, the Blazers felt it was in his best long-term interest to sit out the club’s remaining 12 contests, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Lillard had a down as the Blazers got further away from a playoff spot this season having an under .500 record.
He averaged 24.0 points per game but posted career lows in field-goal percentage (40.2%) and 3-point percentage (32.4%).
The six-time All-Star is under contract through the 2023-24 season and has a $48.8-million player option for 2024-25.
According to the Blazers’ injury report, Dame met several key benchmarks during his recovery after undergoing surgery in January.
Portland seems to have set its sight on the lottery and the 2022 NBA draft. Lillard will enter the end-stage of his rehab in the coming weeks.
The Blazers are 3.5 games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the West’s final play-in tournament spot. Portland has also ruled out Jusuf Nurkic for at least four weeks and he may be also out for the season.
Nurkic is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and it’s unclear if the Blazers will bring him back or go in a different direction.
With Lillard officially out, the Blazers should pretty much throw in the towel for this season and consider it all but finished. They’re moving towards resetting their roster around Lillard by tanking for a high lottery pick.
Dame Lillard injury update: https://t.co/kOy7Wz7Sug — Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) March 21, 2022
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