The Portland Trail Blazers had a key decision to make regarding star point guard Damian Lillard. Lillard has not featured in a single game in 2022 after having undergone abdominal surgery in early January. With just 12 games left on the docket for the Trail Blazers, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Monday that the superstar point guard would miss the remainder of the season.
🆕 Inside Pass from @ShamsCharania.
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— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 21, 2022
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise to fans. After offloading CJ McCollum at the trade deadline and losing Jusuf Nurkic to injury, the Blazers' already slim chances of reaching the playoffs faded away. With no chance of the postseason in 2021-22, the Blazers are in full tank mode, as is evident by the team they've trotted out throughout the past few weeks. Thus, bringing Lillard back for the final 12 games of the year would make very little sense, as the team is far better off looking to the future and positioning themselves better for the 2022 NBA Draft.
The recent updates regarding Lillard's comeback from his abdominal surgery had all been incredibly positive, with the point guard reportedly “making tremendous progress.” Despite that, the Blazers are opting to keep him sidelined until next season as they struggle to the finish line in 2021-22.
Portland sits at 26-44 on the year, having won just 1 game in its last 10 matches. With Lillard out for the remainder of the season, it figures to be an ugly end to the year for the Trail Blazers, who could manage to slip further down the Western Conference standings.
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