The Boston Celtics were not able to sign Damian Lillard as a free agent, but the latest reporting indicates that they did make an attempt.
Lillard has agreed to a three-year, $42 million contract to return to the Portland Trail Blazers, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Thursday. He played the first 11 seasons of his career with the Blazers after they drafted him with the No. 6 overall pick in 2012. The Blazers traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks before the 2023-24 campaign.
The Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves were among the teams that made offers to Lillard, per Charania.
“He was going to spend the year rehabbing his Achilles tear in the Portland area anyway, so returning to the Blazers franchise, even though he requested a trade just two years ago, was something he deeply cared about,” Charania said Friday on SportsCenter.
“Boston, Minnesota, dozens of other teams had minimum and mid-level exception offers out to Damian Lillard in the last several weeks.”
Lillard tore his Achilles during the Bucks’ first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers in April, and as a result, he could miss the entire 2025-26 season.
The Bucks waived Lillard in early July, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent and sign with any team.
Lillard would have been a nice addition to the Celtics roster. Even at 35 years old, he’s still a very good scorer. He averaged 24.9 points per game for the Bucks last season. But many other teams, including the Blazers, were able to offer Lillard more money than the Celtics.
“Dame probably wasn’t going to go somewhere for the minimum. Superstar players just don’t do that, even when they’re older and coming off an Achilles injury,” our Celtics insider Chris Forsberg said Thursday on NBC Sports Boston show Arbella Early Edition, as seen in the video player above.
“I just never really thought it was a thing Boston could pull off. (But) it’s a call you have to make when you’re in a position the Celtics are, and you need to take some swings at low-cost guys who have some high upside if everything broke right.”
The Celtics still need more frontcourt depth after losing Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet this offseason. Al Horford is still a free agent.
