Making Sense Of The Turmoil Around Chauncey Billups And The Trail Blazers

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups watches his team during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento, Calif., Sunday, April 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Randall Benton)

By 750 THE GAME STAFF

It came out of left field when the Blazers announced they wouldn’t be bringing back assistant coaches Scott Brooks and Rodney Billups.

Brooks was the lead assistant to Chanucey Billups for the past three seasons and his contract was not very big. Rodney Billups is the brother of head coach Chauncey Billups and his contract was not very big either.

It seemed like the beginning of the end for this coaching staff, but Chauncey Billups had one year left on his contract and then a team option the next season. It certainly seems like Billups will be the Blazers coach next season.

Then Chris Mannix sent out a tweet that put doubt in to Rip City that Billups would be the Blazers coach.

Teams are monitoring Chauncey Billups situation in Portland, league sources told @SInow. The Blazers are rebuilding and just parted ways with two assistants, including Billups’s brother, Rodney. If Billups/Portland split, Billups would quickly emerge as a candidate for other jobs

— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) May 8, 2024

Mannix tweeted that teams are monitoring the Blazers situation with Chauncey Billups. Most of Rip City didn’t know there was a Blazers coaching situation.

National NBA writer for the Washington Post Ben Golliver joined the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano and talked about the Blazers coaching situation. Golliver goes back to the Blazers exit interviews where they said Billups will be the coach next season. Golliver says that it was interesting that the Blazers said one thing, but then didn’t do the action of giving Billups an extension.

“It was so strange to me that they came out of the exit interviews and the management was saying Chauncey was still the guy, and yet they weren’t going to give him an extension and they were just going to play it out,” said Golliver.

Golliver says it doesn’t make sense because business is done a certain way in the NBA. And this is not how teams do business.

“It’s just out of step with how business gets done in the NBA,” he said. “It’s setting Chauncey Billups up to fail, and it’s sending a message to the players that we really don’t know what direction we’re going.”

Golliver isn’t shocked though. He has seen bad business done in Portland for years, and this is just the latest example.

“I think that kind of muddled wording or philosophy that has been there in Portland the last couple of years,” he said. “This is just one more example of it.”

Listen to the full interview with Ben Golliver by clicking the podcast below. Catch the Bald Faced Truth with John Canzano weekdays 3-6 p.m. exclusively in Portland on 750 The Game.