Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard is planning to have surgery soon to deal with lingering pain from his abdominal injury, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Windhorst adds that Lillard may be able to return this season after the surgery, but that’s still up in the air.
Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports writes that Lillard will have surgery Thursday and will be re-evaluated in six to eight weeks. Haynes notes that Lillard saw specialists in St. Louis and Philadelphia recently, and both agreed surgery was the best route to take. Lillard’s possible return to the court this season depends on his health and where the team is in the Western Conference standings, Haynes adds. Portland is currently 16-24, the No. 10 seed in the West.
Lillard missed 10-plus days at the beginning of December after an MRI revealed lower abdominal tendinopathy. He later stated that he’s been dealing with the injury for a few years and considered having surgery last offseason. However, he ended up participating in the Olympics instead, winning a gold medal with Team USA, but he didn’t look like his normal dominant self. Within his column, Windhorst writes that Lillard aggravated the injury at the Tokyo Olympics.
Prior to returning to the court last month, Lillard had a cortisone injection to deal with the pain in his abdomen. As we noted at the time, cortisone injections are typically short-term solutions, and the injury continued to bother Portland’s best player. A week ago, the team announced that Lillard would miss three more games as he continued to struggle with the injury, and ultimately surgery was determined to be the best course of action.
The Blazers hold a 4-7 record without Lillard this season, but have won two in a row. On the season, the six-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA member has played 29 games (36.4 minutes), averaging 24 points, 4.1 rebounds and 7.3 assists on .402/.324/.878 shooting. His 24 points per game represent his lowest scoring average since 2014-15, and his shooting percentages from the field and from three are career-lows, so clearly the injury has impacted his performance.
With Lillard out and CJ McCollum sidelined with a collapsed lung, Portland has been leaning heavily on 22-year-old Anfernee Simons in January. Simons has shined through five games (37 MPG) this month, averaging 27.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 7.6 assists on .511/.446/.947 shooting. It’s a huge opportunity for the fourth-year guard, who’s eligible for a rookie-scale extension this summer.
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