Damian

Lillard

Lillard has now scored 25 points and had at least five assists in both of his matchups against the Suns so far this season. The 36-year-old point guard played 32 minutes and was +16 in the 13-point win. Portland begins a back-to-back against the Lakers and Spurs Friday in Los Angeles.

The 22 points are the most Lillard has scored in a game since Portland’s opener against the Suns, when he tallied 25. He didn’t shoot particularly well, but Dame led the Trail Blazers in assists and recorded a complete stat line. With Portland winning comfortably, Lillard played only 27 minutes on Saturday.

Lillard has been excellent for a 36-year-old coming off a torn Achilles, but he struggled in this one. This was just Portland’s first loss of the season, and Lillard should get back to producing how he was previously. He isn’t the player he once was, but Lillard will continue to be a productive player, mostly as a reliable source of three-pointers and assists.

After comfortable wins over the Suns and Kings, we got our first “Dame Time” moment of the 2026-27 season on Tuesday. Lillard’s three-pointer with 43.1 seconds remaining extended Portland’s lead to six, essentially ending the game. He scored 10 of his 21 points in the final quarter, and he and Deni Avdija accounted for 19 of the Blazers’ 34 points in the frame. It’s still early in the season, but so far Portland’s perimeter rotation hasn’t hurt Lillard’s fantasy value.

It wasn’t the most efficient night for Damian Lillard, but he still gave you a good game. As he’s coming back from his Achilles injury, he will have some nights where he is not very efficient, especially early on the season. We weren’t drafting Damian Lillard as high as we have been, so there isn’t much to complain about when there’s the occasional inefficient night.

Lillard and the Trail Blazers could not have hoped for a better opener, as Portland scored the first 17 points and never looked back. In his first appearance in a Trail Blazers uniform since March 22, 2023, Lillard shot 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. With Portland winning in a rout, the veteran guard played just 24 minutes and saw no action in the fourth quarter. For fantasy managers who may have harbored any questions about Lillard’s potential this season, Wednesday night was a good start.

Lillard will be back on the floor for the first time in over a year after missing all of last season with an Achilles injury. He’ll also be back in a Trail Blazers uniform for the first time since the 2022-23 season. Lillard will start alongside Morant, Avdija, Camara and Clingan.

Conflicting offseason reports noted that Morant could come off the bench, but the Blazers will play the pair of superstar guards together in Wednesday’s season opener against the Suns. Fantasy managers should pay close attention to this pairing and keep in mind that Portland may experiment with different lineups throughout the season.

Based on Friday’s starting lineup, fantasy managers can assume (if they haven’t already) that the Trail Blazers will start Lillard and Ja Morant together to begin the regular season. Both took 10 field-goal attempts against the Warriors, and Lillard also got 13 free-throw attempts. However, in the 22:29 they shared the court, Portland posted a net rating of minus-20.6. Lillard’s offensive production won’t be an issue, but defensive concerns may force head coach Micah Nori to stagger Lillard and Morant’s minutes more than he did on Friday.

Damian Lillard didn’t play in Monday’s exhibition, and his absence opened a starting spot for Holiday. Like the other starters, the veteran guard was done at halftime. The move to the bench lowers Holiday’s fantasy ceiling considerably, giving managers no reason to use a top-100 pick on him. However, he should play enough to provide reliable late-round value in most leagues.