Two weeks ago, the Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard agreed to a $194 million extension that runs through the 2024-2025 season.
While that’s a staggering amount of money, Lillard means far more to this city and organization than any numbers in the win-loss columns or the salary sheet could ever capture. He’s earned every dollar of that contract on the court, carrying overachieving rosters to the playoffs year after year with heroic regular season performances, exceeding every expectation - except his own - to become a perennial MVP candidate.
Perhaps more importantly, he’s shown his true value off the court, embracing the city of Portland in a way that no superstar ever has (or I thought ever would).