Category: Portland Trail Blazers Blog

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Damian Lillard is now the leading scorer in Portland Trail Blazers history

Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard scored his 18,041 career point in the third quarter of tonight’s game at Oklahoma City to pass Clyde Drexler (18,040) and become the franchise’s all-time leader in points.

“Damian’s commitment to Portland is now incapsulated with this prestigious career milestone,” said Portland Trail Blazers General Manager, Joe Cronin. “His dedication, humility and hard work have been pillars for his path to this very moment. On behalf of the organization, we would like to congratulate Damian on this great achievement and look forward to many more.”

Named to the NBA’s Top 75 Greatest Players of all time ahead of the 2021-22 season, Lillard, entered tonight’s game averaging 28.3 points (45.1% FG, 39.8% 3pt, 89.4% FT), 3.8 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 34.4 minutes per game in 18 games for the 2022-23 season.

Lillard, 32, is the only player in franchise history with six All-NBA honors and one of three players to be named All-NBA First Team while with the Trail Blazers (2017-18). Lillard is a six-time NBA All-Star, a 2021 Olympic Gold Medalist and the unanimous 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year.

The Weber St. product is the all-time franchise leader in scoring average, three-pointers made (2,229) and free throws made (4,047). Additionally, he is second in field goals (5,883), second in minutes (26,484), third in assists (4,857), fourth in games played (730) and sixth in steals (698).

Damian Lillard says he should be in discussion of greatest shooters ever

Who are the greatest shooters in NBA history? Stephen Curry appears to be a very solid choice for best ever. But which players are in the running for second? In the opinion of Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, a great choice for 2nd place is… himself. Via NBA.com/blazers:

Lillard, who reached 2,222 three-pointers in nearly half the number of games that Crawford, Terry and LeBron James, who is ninth all-time, needed to make the Top 10, also took the opportunity to wonder why he’s not considered one of the league all-time great shooters despite his ranking. He was quick to note that Stephen Curry, whose 3,248 threes is first on the all-time list by a considerable margin, is the best shooter in NBA history, but that he’s no slouch either, despite what some of his detractors might argue.

“I always see stuff on social media where they talk about the greatest shooters of all-time and they always act like it’s just crazy for people to mention me,” said Lillard. “I think for how many threes I’ve made, for how consistent I make them, the level of difficulty that I shoot threes with over years and years and years, I just think it’s kind of crazy people don’t mention me in those discussions.

“Obviously I think Steph is the greatest ever, but I think after him, I don’t see why I’m not clear-cut in that discussion, not just by makes, but how I shoot it, how I make tough ones all the time, how easy I shoot the ball. I’m looking forward to keep climbing that list so once I get up there in that top two, top three, I’m curious to see what people will say about me as a shooter at that point.”

The Blazers are 17-13 this season, which is the 6th best record in the Western conference.

Their leading scorers so far in 2022-23 are Lillard are 28.3 PPG, Anfernee Simons at 23.4 PPG, and Jerami Grant at 21.9 PPG.

Anfernee Simons scores 45 points in Blazers win over Jazz

The Trail Blazers beat the Jazz in Utah 116-111 yesterday. Here’s a big reason why, via the Deseret News:

Anfernee Simons put up a career-high 45 points on the Jazz with 33 points coming in the first half alone. Speaking of 33, that’s how many points Jerami Grant finished with on Saturday night. With Damian Lillard, Josh Hart and a few others from the Blazers roster sidelined because of injury or illness, Simons and Grant stepped up to the plate and gave the Jazz a tough time all night.

The Blazers are still without injured guard Damian Lillard.

FULL ARTICLE

Trail Blazers sign Ibou Badji to two-way contract, waive Olivier Sarr

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed center Ibou Badji to a two-way contract.

Also today, the team waived center Olivier Sarr.

Badji, 7-1, averaged 7.4 points (61.8% FG, 66.7% FT), 6.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 2.6 blocks in seven games (all starts) this season with the Wisconsin Herd, the NBA G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks. A native of Senegal, he also played for the country in the 2019 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup and averaged 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.1 blocks in seven games.

Sarr was signed to a two-way contract on September 7, 2022 and appeared in four preseason games for the Trail Blazers, averaging 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.0 minutes.

Injury update on Trail Blazers guard Gary Payton II

Trail Blazers guard Gary Payton II was reevaluated by Dr. William C. Meyers at The Vincera Institute in Philadelphia on Monday.

Payton has been cleared to increase conditioning and on court activity in preparation to return to play.

Payton will miss Wednesday’s game vs. Memphis and the upcoming six-game road trip at which a timeline for return to game action will be determined.

Trail Blazers swingman Josh Hart enters Concussion Protocol

The Portland Trail Blazers today announced that guard/forward Josh Hart has entered the NBA’s Concussion Protocol following last night’s game.

Per the NBA’s Concussion Policy, Hart must go through the return-to-participation process, which can begin no earlier than 24 hours from the time of injury. The return-to-participation process includes a series of steps designed to ensure an athlete exhibits symptom free behavior before resuming full basketball activities. There is no timeframe to complete the process, as each injury and player is different and recovery time can vary in each case.

Trail Blazers sign John Butler Jr. to a two-way contract

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed forward John Butler Jr. to a two-way contract.

Butler, 7-1, appeared in four summer league games for the New Orleans Pelicans in 2022 and averaged 8.5 points (75.0% FG, 66.7 3-PT%, 57.1 FT%), 3.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 16.7 minutes per game. In a matchup against Oklahoma City at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas on July 17, Butler scored 25 points while shooting 9-for-9 from the field including 6-for-6 from three.

Undrafted out of Florida State, Butler accrued averages of 5.9 points (41.6% FG, 39.3% 3-PT), 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 19.0 minutes per game in 31 games (24 starts) for the Seminoles during the 2021-22 season. The Greenville, SC native became the first freshman in Florida State history to lead the team in 3-point field goals made (33) and 3-point field goal percentage shooting (.393) in a season.

Trail Blazers hire BJ Domingo as Director of Player Personnel

The Portland Trail Blazers have hired BJ Domingo as Director of Player Personnel.

“We are excited to welcome BJ to the front office here in Portland to help bolster our global scouting efforts,” said Blazers GM Joe Cronin. “BJ has evaluated talent at the pro level, collegiate and amateur ranks while developing great relationships across the world.”

Domingo joins the Trail Blazers after serving as the Assistant Director of the USA Men’s National Team since 2021 after previously working for the Milwaukee Bucks as a Scout since 2017. The Bay Area native also served as a basketball operations associate from 2015-17 and as a player relations intern in 2014-2015 for the Bucks.

A graduate of San Jose State in 2013, Domingo first entered the NBA as a video intern for the Golden State Warriors in 2013-14.