Damian Lillard's Blazers Homecoming Brings Back Some Unfinished Business

The last time the Portland Trail Blazers played in the Western Conference finals, Meyers Leonard scored more points than Damian Lillard in the series finale.

Seven years later, the two are returning to Moda Center on Wednesday night … only this time, Leonard will be watching from the stands.

And he won't be alone.

The Athletic's Jason Quick reported that Leonard and former Blazer Evan Turner are expected to attend Portland's season opener against the Phoenix Suns to celebrate Lillard's long-awaited return.

It's a pretty remarkable gesture from two players who haven't shared a locker room with Lillard since 2019. And considering how that season ended … there's something particularly interesting about their return.

On May 20, 2019, Leonard erupted for 30 points and 12 rebounds against Golden State. Lillard added 28 points and 12 assists, while Turner played 31 minutes off the bench.

Portland lost 119-117 in overtime, completing a four-game sweep.

That was the end of the deepest playoff run of Lillard's career with the Blazers — and, as it turned out, the closest that group would come to an NBA championship.

But there's something worth considering about how that team is remembered.

For all the conversations about Portland's inability to surround Lillard with a championship-caliber roster, the players who shared those disappointments with him seem to remember their time together quite differently.

At least, that's what Wednesday's reunion suggests.

"We had a real relationship," Lillard told Quick when discussing his friendship with Leonard.

And it's worth noting that Leonard isn't returning as some universally beloved former Blazer. His seven seasons in Portland were filled with criticism, inconsistent performances and questions about whether he ever justified being selected 11th overall in 2012.

Lillard, meanwhile, was becoming the face of the franchise.

Yet the relationship between the two survived their departures, separate career paths and Lillard's eventual decision to request a trade in 2023.

That's a different kind of legacy.

Lillard's place in franchise history was secured long before his return. He's Portland's all-time leading scorer, responsible for some of the biggest moments in team history and arguably the most recognizable Blazer since Clyde Drexler.

But he also left Portland without delivering the championship he spent more than a decade chasing.

And while that absence will always be part of the conversation surrounding his career, it clearly hasn't diminished the respect he's earned from at least some of the players who experienced those years alongside him.

There's an interesting irony in that.

Lillard requested a trade because he no longer believed the organization was positioned to contend the way he wanted. Three years later, he's returning to a team coming off its first playoff appearance since 2021 — with a different supporting cast and another opportunity to pursue what eluded him the first time.

There's no guarantee this chapter ends any differently. Portland still has plenty to prove, and Lillard is now 36 and returning from a torn Achilles.

But Wednesday's reunion offers a reminder that his first stint wasn't defined exclusively by what the Blazers failed to accomplish.

Leonard and Turner were there when Portland came closest. They experienced the expectations, the disappointment and the eventual breakup of that roster.

Now they're coming back for the player who helped bring them there.

And that's worth more than another tribute video or a standing ovation.

For years, the question in Portland was whether the Blazers had done enough for Damian Lillard. Whether the franchise gave him the teammates, the resources and the opportunity to accomplish everything he wanted.

The championship never came. The roster eventually fell apart. Lillard himself decided it was time to leave.

Yet seven years after that conference finals run, two former teammates are expected to return to Portland to support him.

Maybe the Blazers never did enough for Lillard ... but Wednesday offers a pretty compelling reminder of what Lillard did for the people around him.