Why are Portland Trial Blazers ‘shutting down’ Damian Lillard for rest of the 2023 NBA regular season? 

The Portland Trail Blazers have made an interesting decision as the team will be shutting down Damian Lillard for the remainder of the season. The decision hasn't been made official yet, but according to reports, the team is discussing that option. Lillard is reportedly dealing with a calf injury. Portland believes it's best to shut him down.

Shams Charania

@ShamsCharania

Sources: The Portland Trail Blazers are leaning toward shutting down All-Star Damian Lillard for the season's final nine games. The franchise is seriously considering taking precautions as Lillard deals with calf injury and the team is 3.5 games out of Play-In Tournament race.

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Sources: The Portland Trail Blazers are leaning toward shutting down All-Star Damian Lillard for the season's final nine games. The franchise is seriously considering taking precautions as Lillard deals with calf injury and the team is 3.5 games out of Play-In Tournament race.

While this could be for precautionary reasons, it certainly does pose the question of whether Portland will decide to trade Lillard in the summer. The past few years have been fun for fans in Portland outside of the last year and a half, but at some point, it's time to move on. He's had an incredible career with the Trail Blazers, and nobody will ever be able to take that away from either Lillard or the organization.

However, since they have been in the same spot for the past few seasons, it might be best to move in another direction for Portland. Damian Lillard has expressed his loyalty multiple times, but at some point, things have to give.

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Could Damian Lillard fetch a Super-Star Level Contract?

If Portland does decide to trade Damian Lillard, it's going to be interesting to see what his market looks like. We saw a few big moves during the off-season a year ago that might have reset the market for superstar-level players.

If Lillard is to be traded, it makes sense if nearly every team in the NBA makes a phone call to Portland to see what the asking price is going to be. Despite him being up in age, there's no denying that he's still one of the top 10-15 players in the NBA.

This could be a much different Portland team in the coming years, and that's interesting to think about. Damian Lillard has been the face of this franchise for nearly a decade at this point in his career and not seeing him in a Blazers jersey will certainly be different for the NBA.

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