Damian Lillard to have surgery, not season-ending

Brian Windhorst: Damian Lillard is planning to have surgery in the near future to address a lingering abdominal injury, sources told ESPN. The procedure isn’t expected to be season-ending but that is to be determined.
Source: Twitter @WindhorstESPN

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Jeff Stotts @InStreetClothes
Thread Re: Lillard: Hard to definitively say what surgery means or come up w/ a good comp moving forward without knowing the exact nature of his injury. The area of concern has multiple muscles that could be in play as this is the transition area from the abdomen & groin. 1/5 – 6:26 PM Jamie Hudson @JamieHudson_
Blazers Injury Report:
Zeller (right patellar) is doubtful.
Powell (health and safety protocols), Lillard (abdominal tendinopathy), McCollum (right lung pneumothorax), Nance Jr. (right knee) and Anfernee Simons (personal reasons) are out for tomorrow night’s game at Denver – 6:26 PM Casey Holdahl @CHold
Cody Zeller (right patellar fracture) is doubtful and Norman Powell (health/safety protocols), Damian Lillard (abdominal tendinopathy), CJ McCollum (right lung pneumothorax), Larry Nance Jr. (right knee) and Anfernee Simons (personal reasons) are out for Thurs. game vs. Nuggets – 6:26 PM Mike Richman @mikegrich
I’m sure Dame wants to play again this year. Shoot I bet he wants to play tomorrow night. But it is very hard for me to imagine him playing basketball again this season. Timelines or whatever. – 6:08 PM Kevin O’Connor @KevinOConnorNBA
Damian Lillard’s upcoming absence due to his abdominal surgery could be the best path forward for the Trail Blazers. Get Dame healthy, reshuffle the roster, lose more games and have higher draft odds. This is the best way to build a winner around Dame again. – 6:03 PM Chris Haynes @ChrisBHaynes
Yahoo Sources: Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard to undergo surgery tomorrow for an abdomen issue and will be re-evaluated in 6-8 weeks. sports.yahoo.com/sources-damian… – 5:52 PM Sean Highkin @highkin
As I wrote Monday (bleacherreport.com/articles/29522…), this is the best plan for all involved. If Blazers are going to give Dame a $107m extension into his mid 30s (which he wants), they’d like for this injury to be fully healed so he ages well and this isn’t lingering. – 5:51 PM Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
I don’t think Damian Lillard being out changes anything for him being traded. But I do think it opens the Blazers up to do moves they might not have otherwise. Nurkic and Covington for sure, since they are on expiring deals., Maybe Powell. Maybe McCollum.
Reset w/ a high pick. – 5:45 PM Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Report: Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard to undergo (not necessarily season-ending) surgery nba.nbcsports.com/2022/01/12/rep… – 5:42 PM Brian Windhorst @WindhorstESPN
Damian Lillard is planning to have surgery in the near future to address a lingering abdominal injury, sources told ESPN. The procedure isn’t expected to be season-ending but that is to be determined. – 5:26 PM

More on this storyline

Casey Holdahl: Talked to @Damian Lillard today, he’s doing well! -via Twitter @CHold / January 12, 2022 Chris Haynes: Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard will undergo surgery tomorrow to address his abdomen injury and he will be re-evaluated in 6-8 weeks, league sources @YahooSports. -via Twitter @ChrisBHaynes / January 12, 2022 Shams Charania: Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard will undergo surgery on Thursday for his abdominal injury and will be sidelined indefinitely, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium . -via Twitter @ShamsCharania / January 12, 2022