How the Damian Lillard Trade Built the Trail Blazers Team He Always Wanted, in 6 Steps

Three years ago today, the Trail Blazers traded away their all-time franchise leading scorer. In about three weeks, Damian Lillard will play his first game in a Blazers uniform since that day.

The team Lillard is returning to is the kind he wishes he had in his prime, and it was built almost entirely on the back of the trade general manager Joe Cronin made to send him to Milwaukee.

With this summer's trade of Jerami Grant to Memphis and the departure of Matisse Thybulle in free agency, the 2026-27 Blazers are nearly unrecognizable from the last one Lillard played for. The only player left from his final year in Portland before the trade is Shaedon Sharpe, who will miss most of the season after undergoing knee surgery.

Even though Lillard's teammates are entirely new, it's still a collection that makes sense with him.

Here's how it was built, in six steps directly tied to that trade three years ago.

Step 1: The Trade (Sept. 27, 2023)