After watching his season end in tragedy, suffering a torn Achilles tendon in Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers last summer, Damian Lillard has spent the 2025-26 NBA season recovering back with the team that drafted him, the Portland Trail Blazers.

While he will soon be making his season debut during All-Star weekend, taking part in the 3-point contest as he works back from injury, Lillard has been able to watch what Tiego Spliter's squad looks like up close and personal in order to envision what kind of team he will be rejoining next fall when the season opens up.

Asked about this unusual process by the team before the All-Star break, Lillard noted that he's been proud to see his teammates get better every day, as he believes they are really coming together in a promising way.

“Just watching the growth from, you know, the first day back here to now, seeing guys get more comfortable in their roles, start to understand the game more and more, how to win, you know, what gives us our best chance, guys finding themselves coming into their own,” Lillard said. “It's just a beautiful thing to see, and you just, you can see the potential of our team. I can really see, you know, where I fit into this team and where I can elevate this team. And I'm just excited to be a part of it.”

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Turning his attention to the future, Lillard noted he's excited to help his young teammates out, as there's a new crop of NBA players who are ready to take over the league from his generation.

“I think with how the league is changing, you know, it's kind of a transition period of the league right now,” Lillard noted. “A lot of the stars, you know, from my younger years in the league, you know, are starting to kind of age out and, you know, others are kind of having their last best years. And then you start to see younger stars kind of come in and, you know, I think OKC is one of the teams that are like a younger team that's kind of taking that spot. But it's a lot of room for teams to come in and be amongst those elite teams. And I think our team is, we definitely have the talent to do it. You know, we've added experience along with that talent and, you know, we're growing in that direction. I think we have opportunity to be in that mix, especially once we're fully healthy, like you said. And I look forward to being a part of that mission.”

Sitting at 26-28 in ninth place in the Western Conference, the Blazers have exceeded plenty of expectations in 2025-26, especially considering they lost their expected head coach, Chauncey Billups, before opening night. If the team's young players can take a step forward, who knows? Maybe Lillard could take them over the top and allow Portland to make waves in 2027.