The Portland Trail Blazers appear to have interest in keeping head coach Chauncey Billups for the long term.
NBA insider Marc Stein published a piece about trade rumbles and coaching chatter, featuring a section about the Trail Blazers. The team initially struggled with Billups at the helm, but the 2024-25 season has seen them make strides of improvement. This had Stein believe that Portland may stick to their commitment with the head coach.
“The tenor of that chatter has changed. More and more you hear whispers that the Blazers are presumed to have mounting interest retaining Billups beyond this season. That would make sense, too, given that Billups — who endured his own rocky start to NBA life as a player before he began to establish a path to the Basketball Hall of Fame when he landed with his fourth team in Minnesota — has considerable experience and wisdom to pass along to Blazers franchise guard Scoot Henderson,” Stein said.
“Whether Billups stays with the Blazers or becomes an in-demand coaching free agent is generating considerable wonderment among team representatives who track such developments. The full-speed annual spin of the NBA coaching carousel, after all, is drawing near.”
What's next for Chauncey Billups, Blazers
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups talks to guards Anfernee Simons (1) and Shaedon Sharpe (17) during the first quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center.
Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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With Marc Stein's insight, it seems the possibility of the Portland Trail Blazers keeping Chauncey Billups for the future may be legitimate.
Billups struggled in the first three seasons of his head coaching career, going 81-165. The Trail Blazers missed the playoffs under his direction, being in the lottery of the NBA Draft. However, this year has seen significant improvements which could have them be a team to watch out for next season.
Portland has a 28-37 record on the season, holding the 12th spot of the Western Conference standings. They are 2.5 games behind the Phoenix Suns and four games behind the Dallas Mavericks, in the mix for a play-in spot.
The Trail Blazers prepare for their upcoming road matchup on Monday night. They face the Golden State Warriors at 10 p.m. ET.