“I’m not going to be playing 38 minutes per night,” Lillard said Monday. “But I will say I’m a live body … I’m not an old man.”

Lillard tore his left Achilles in the 2025 playoffs, re-signed with Portland that July and spent all of 2025-26 rehabbing.

He averaged 17.3 points in about 22 minutes over three games, made 8 of 21 threes and all 18 of his free throws.

“I plan on playing in games,” he said. “I’m open to being smart. But I’m not limping into the season.”

Sharing the backcourt with Ja Morant, Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson means he no longer has to bring the ball up every trip.

The Blazers host the Suns on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT, which is 5 a.m. Thursday in Cairo.

Damian Lillard pushes the ball against the Cavaliers in Cleveland, Nov. 3, 2021. Photo by Erik Drost, CC-BY-2.0, cropped and resized.

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