Dwyane Wade's return to Heat should be cautionary tale for Blazers

Lillard is the Blazers all-time leading scorer, a nine-time All-Star who led the team to the Western Conference Finals in 2019. But he also turned 35 on Tuesday and will be rehabilitating a torn Achilles tendon for most, if not all, of next season.

It's similar to when another star guard, Dwyane Wade, made his way back to the Miami Heat after one season in Chicago and most of another with the Cleveland Cavaliers just after his 36th birthday. He started slow, but in his sixth game with the team, Wade scored 15 points in the final five minutes, including the game-winner.

Wade had a 25-point game and a 28-point game in the Heat's five-game first-round loss in the playoffs, but he also shot 40.9% for the season and 22% from three-point range. Overall, he had a dreadful offensive rating of 90 points per 100 possessions, with a defensive rating of 105.

In 2018-19, Wade's season became a retirement tour. He played 25 minutes per game and averaged 15 points. Wade was better on offense and worse on defense than the previous season, and the Heat missed the playoffs by two games with a 39-43 record. Would having a sixth man under the age of 37 have helped more than celebrating a crowd favorite?

Lillard missed at least 24 games in three of the last four seasons, and that was before his Achilles tear, one of the most devastating injuries in basketball. At $14M per season, he might be a bargain just as a mentor for young guard Scoot Henderson — though it's important to remember that it was Portland's drafting of Henderson in 2023 that sparked Lillard's demand for a trade out of town. Is he now going to be willing to take a back seat to a 21-year-old?

Getting the luxury of having Lillard on the team for the cost of a mid-level exception is great. He's been so elite offensively that even a significant decline would probably make him useful, if not valuable, despite his below-average defense. 

But regardless of how good Lillard is, he's going to play big minutes, and he has a no-trade clause. Sometimes, storybooks have ugly endings.