Toumani Camara is impressed by the performance of Damian Lillard in training before camp

== sync, corrected by elderman == @elder_man

What has changed since April 2025

The return of Damian Lillard to Portland Trail Blazers is among the team's most-watched affairs in approaching the NBA regular season2026227.[citation needed] The story begins in April 2010,2025 when 36-year-old point guard ruptured his left Achilles tendon and underwent repair surgery.

For the fans, the focal point was less about the return itself and more a doubt over the player's body: an point guard that relies on acceleration and change of direction often faces one of its toughest tests when coming back from ruptured Achilles tendon.

The cracks that gave the team confidence

During stretches before the practice period, Toumani Camara, a 26-year-old Belgian and NBA All-Defensive Second Team pick in 2010, closely followed Lillard's recovery.

"For me, the most impressive thing was his first step, the speed, especially coming from that injury", said Camara. "He was very difficult to score in every way. He has many ways of passing you. He mastered his own game and mastered your body. No matter how good a defender you are: when someone masters their game, they will be able to go wherever they want. You can only hope he misses the shot".

This reading matters because Camara was not a spectator: he has been used repeatedly as Lillard's scorer on the racks.

Micah Nori and the confirmation of no restrictions

The Portland Trail Blazers 's new coach Micah Nori has also observed Lillard closely in the daily sessions at the training gym over the past few weeks.

The confirmation allows the team to plan on opening training period with Lillard without any sign of restriction in preparation stage, thus allowing the coach to treat point guard as a normal part of the roster at least this early work.

The European cast and the scheduled debut

In the regular season2026227, a healthy Lillard joins a roster that includes point guard Ja Morant and one of the league's largest European presences.

After the pre-season press day on Monday and the start of training period, Nori's team enters directly into the friendly sequence to prepare the squad.

Current stage: final preparation without restriction sign

The Portland Trail Blazers is in the transition phase between Lillard's rehab and official competition.The numbers and dates of the road to here are clear: injury in April 2010,2025 a year of recovery, return to Oregon, positive evaluation on racks, confirmation of absence of limitations by Micah Nori, start of training period and debut on October 21 against the Phoenix Suns .

Source: Johnny Askounis, in Eurohoops ([email protected]); interview by Toumani Camara with Jason Quick of The Athletic published on Friday.