Portland Trail Blazers legend and current Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard makes his return to Portland on Wednesday night in a game that will likely be emotional for both Lillard and Blazers fans.

Lillard has been open about the difficult decision to request a trade from the Blazers last summer and the fact that it was based on a desire to have a chance to win, as opposed to being a situation where he was unhappy.

Earlier this week, Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups said that the trade was a good thing for Lillard, and explained why he didn't try to convince him to stay in Portland:

“No, I didn't try to convince Dame to stay. I always just wanted what's best for Dame and I didn't want to get in the way of that for my own selfish reasons. Bigger than this basketball thing is he's a friend of mine. He's almost kind of like a little brother to me, and I felt like, at that time, the best thing for Dame was to go do what he had to do, you know, hopefully go get in a great position to win the championship. And obviously, he's in a great position. So, it worked out perfectly.”

Billups was then asked if he means it worked out perfectly for Lillard or the Blazers:

“For him. Of course, for him. I mean, which is what it was all about. He's still at the end of his prime, but those years go pretty quickly, and I know that. So, he'll be chasing it for a little while. But, obviously, in the situation that [the Blazers are] in, you don't want to see him in that type of spot, where we're doing what we're doing and he's out there bumping and grinding, scrapping and clawing, and getting 30s and 40s, and we can barely win those games. It's just a tough situation to be in for him. But he never complained about it. He's just a soldier, man. He came to work and did the best he could, every single time. And I respect that about him.

While Lillard is currently chasing a championship with the Bucks, he clearly hasn't ruled out a possible return to Portland later in his career.