Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell converge at All-Star as Blazers storyline looms

Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell are about to share the same spotlight in Los Angeles, even as their seasons have gone in sharply different directions. Lillard, listed out all season while rehabbing a left Achilles injury in his first year back with the Portland Trail Blazers, has been announced as a participant in the NBA’s 2026 3-point contest. Mitchell, meanwhile, is piling up high-volume threes for Cleveland and will also be in the eight-man field—giving All-Star Saturday an unusual mix of active headliners and a marquee name returning to competition in a controlled setting.

The pairing ties together three threads at once: Lillard’s rehabilitation and visibility after a major injury, Mitchell’s current scoring surge, and the Blazers’ fanbase watching a franchise icon remain in the news despite not playing.

What the 3-point contest field says about star power

The 3-point contest has increasingly become an event that blends pure specialists with top-tier creators, and this year’s lineup leans heavily toward the latter. Five current All-Stars are in the field, and several entrants regularly take threes off movement, step-backs, and late-clock situations rather than set shots.

For Mitchell, the invitation reflects a season defined by volume and efficiency from deep—he has been among the league leaders in made threes and has carried a heavy offensive load. For Lillard, the invitation signals something different: a recognition of his long-running identity as one of the NBA’s premier long-range shooters, independent of whether he has played this season.

Why Lillard’s “out all season” status still matters

Portland’s injury listings have consistently kept Lillard marked out due to left Achilles injury management, and nothing about the contest changes that medical reality. What it does change is the public timeline of his comeback narrative. A 3-point contest run is not five-on-five basketball, but it is a real, visible test: repeated shooting under lights, quick movement between racks, and enough intensity to show where rhythm and comfort are in the recovery process.

That visibility can influence perception in two ways. First, it reassures fans that the rehabilitation is progressing to a stage where high-repetition shooting is realistic. Second, it can raise expectations prematurely. An athlete can be ready to shoot and still not be close to ready for NBA-level acceleration, deceleration, contact, or the cumulative load of games and travel.

For the Blazers, the significance is more cultural than tactical: Lillard remains the face of the franchise for many supporters, and any sign of him competing again—anywhere—keeps the team’s broader identity in the conversation.

Mitchell’s moment: production meets new context

Mitchell enters All-Star weekend with both momentum and a shifting roster context in Cleveland. He has been producing at an elite level, and his recent run has included big scoring nights that underline why he remains one of the league’s most dangerous shot-makers.

The Cavaliers also just absorbed a major change with a new star guard joining the rotation. That can cut two ways for Mitchell: fewer possessions where he must create everything from scratch, but also new spacing and rhythm to calibrate. In the short term, the 3-point contest offers a clean lane for him to showcase his shooting without any scheme variables—just pace, stamina, and make-or-miss pressure.

The Blazers angle: spotlight without minutes

For Portland, the story is complicated and familiar: the team is trying to build while its defining veteran star is unavailable. Lillard’s presence at All-Star weekend doesn’t solve the Blazers’ on-court problems—injuries and absences have affected the roster beyond him—but it does keep the franchise attached to one of the weekend’s premier stages.

It also underlines the organization’s unusual position: Portland has a participant in one of All-Star Saturday’s main events without getting any of the weekly benefits that normally come with having a star guard on the floor. That disconnect is part of why fans track every detail of Lillard’s progress, even when the official updates stay cautious.

Key dates and when to watch (ET)

If Lillard advances deep into the contest, the moment will land as more than a shooting exhibition: it will look like a milestone on a long recovery road. If Mitchell wins—or even posts a dominant first round—it reinforces that his current season’s perimeter production translates cleanly under the sport’s most compressed pressure format.

Sources consulted: Reuters, NBA.com, Associated Press, ESPN