Damian Lillard is spending his offseason like a man with something to prove, and the latest evidence is hard to ignore.
The Portland Trail Blazers guard, who tore his left Achilles tendon in the 2025 NBA playoffs, has been grinding through his rehab and shooting work as he eyes an NBA return after more than a year away. In a recent Instagram workout video, Lillard ended up at a jaw-dropping 1,100-for-1,168 from three-point range, good for 94.2%.
That kind of number turns heads even in a league full of elite shooters. Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry famously hit 105 threes in a row in 2020, and plenty of players have put together impressive practice clips over the years. But Lillard’s volume and accuracy make this one stand out.
The video caught the attention of his new teammate Ja Morant, along with former teammate Nik Stauskas. Stauskas, who played with Lillard in Portland during the 2018-19 season, said the workload itself deserves more respect.
“Naah people aren’t gonna appreciate how hard this is to do over 1000 shots,” Stauskas wrote. “I’ve always said if it wasn’t for Steph we’d talk about him different. Easily the best player & shooter I’ve ever played with.”
Stauskas has also shared locker rooms with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Jimmy Butler, which makes that praise even more striking. And while Curry still sits alone at the top of the shooter conversation, Lillard has made his own case for the next spot.
Lillard, now 36, ranks fifth all-time with 2,804 made threes. His career three-point percentage sits at 37.1, but that number comes with context: he takes plenty of deep looks and plenty of contested ones. Easy shots are not usually part of his diet.
He also gave a glimpse of just how much work has gone into this offseason. Lillard said he took on a “Dame’s Road to 100K” challenge that began on Sept. 1, 2025, with a goal of making 100,000 three-pointers by Sept.
1, 2026. He reached 100,100 on Aug.
29, 2026. The target was 100 per day, and Lillard averaged 274, including 473 over the last 10 days.
That kind of volume speaks for itself.
The bigger question now is what Lillard looks like when he gets back on the floor. The last time he played, he averaged 24.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024-25. The Achilles injury makes his 2026-27 outlook one of the major unknowns heading into the season, especially with Lillard in his mid-30s.
Still, if the shooting videos are any indication, the touch is very much intact.
In Other News...
Blazers Draft Regret Just Made The Scoot Henderson Debate Heavier
The clock is already ticking on Scoot Hendersons future in Portland, and the latest market reset around the 2023 draft only makes the conversation feel more loaded. Henderson, the Blazers former No. 3 overall pick, is eligible for a rookie-scale extension before the 2026-27 season, which means the franchise will eventually have to decide how far it wants to go with a player it drafted to be part of the next core.
Around the league, though, the comparison point keeps getting harder to ignore. Amen Thompson, taken one spot after Henderson by Houston, has already put himself on a premium track, and every new benchmark for his value invites another look back at Portlands choice. The Blazers did not draft for the alternative timeline, but the roster questions that followed that night are still hanging around, and they add another layer to whatever comes next for Henderson. [Read more 🡒]
Blazers Suddenly Have A Shaedon Sharpe Problem They Can't Ignore
Shaedon Sharpes summer took a hard turn when the Portland guard suffered a torn meniscus in an offseason workout, a setback that is expected to keep him out for at least six months. For a Blazers team trying to sort out its next phase, the timing matters just as much as the injury itself, because Sharpe had been part of the offensive depth plan and one of the younger pieces the club hoped would help balance the backcourt.
Now Portland has a much thinner margin for error behind its top creators, with more of the burden falling on Damian Lillard, Ja Morant and Scoot Henderson. The loss stings even more because the Blazers are also trying to account for what Jerami Grant had been supplying to the second unit, leaving them short on the shot creation and size that help stabilize a bench group over the course of a season. [Read more 🡒]
Adam Silvers Next Test Could Put Blazers Fans On Edge
Adam Silvers latest move with the Clippers sent a clear message around the league: the commissioner is willing to use the full weight of the office when he believes a team has crossed the line. That matters in Portland, where the Trail Blazers arena talks have been moving slowly and the long-term lease remains unresolved, leaving the franchise in a waiting pattern while new owner Tom Dundon steps into the local picture.
Silver has already shown he is not shy about pressing owners when a situation drifts off course, and the Blazers project now sits under that same kind of scrutiny in the broader ownership landscape. The question in Portland is whether the commissioners influence can help push the process forward, especially if Dundon is forced to confront a much bigger financial commitment than the straightforward public funding path he may have expected. [Read more 🡒]