It made sense that Damian Lillard was a popular man when he unexpectedly hit the free agent market for the first time in his career earlier this summer. The Milwaukee Bucks waived Lillard in a move no one saw coming as they scrambled to retool around Giannis Antetokounmpo following Lillard tearing his Achilles this past postseason. Even taking that serious injury into account, a player of Lillard's talent and resume very rarely becomes a free agent. So it wasn't surprising that several teams were almost immediately rumored to have interest in the All-NBA scorer.
Just how much interest did Lillard garner? It turns out far more than anybody could reasonably expect. After the star point guard shocked the NBA world and signed with the Portland Trail Blazers, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Lillard turned down dozens of offers from NBA teams that ranged from minimum contracts to the midlevel exception salary of about $14 million annually.
"Boston, Minnesota, dozens of other teams had minimum and midlevel exception offers out to Damian Lillard in the last several weeks," Charania said on ESPN.
On the biggest reason Damian Lillard returned to Portland for @SportsCenter at Night: pic.twitter.com/aQVIl6WIrm
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 18, 2025
That's nearly half the NBA! A truly absurd number for any prospective free agent. So much goes into making an offer to a player, from on-court fit to locker room chemistry to finances, that it's very unusual for that many teams to throw an offer out there.
But Lillard was a special case. His resume is undeniable, obviously; most teams, no matter how close they may be to contention, would be glad to add a bonafide superstar to the locker room even if he's past his prime. But the Bucks waiving him meant Lillard theoretically wouldn't cost as much as a player with said résumé would demand under normal circumstances. No NBA team can resist a bargain and signing Lillard to a minimum deal like Charania mentions above would definitely qualify.
Despite his options Lillard could not resist the swan song of returning to Portland.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shams Charania Reveals Huge Number of Offers Damian Lillard Turned Down in Free Agency.
