Chauncey Billups Reportedly Hired by Blazers to Replace Terry Stotts as HC
The Portland Trail Blazers have their next head coach.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Los Angeles Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups will take over as the team's new leader on the bench.
Billups replaces Terry Stotts, who parted ways with the team in early June after nine seasons.
The Trail Blazers had been as consistent as they come under Stotts, reaching the playoffs in each of the last eight seasons. The squad peaked in 2018-19 with a trip to the Western Conference Finals after posting a 53-29 record during the regular season.
There wasn't enough postseason success, however, with the Blazers losing in the first round in four of the last five years. The team was eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in the first round this year after earning the No. 6 seed with a 42-30 campaign.
Portland will look for more success under Billups.
The 44-year-old has spent the past season as an assistant coach with the Clippers. He worked as an analyst for ESPN before moving to the sideline.
As a player, Billups earned five All-Star selections to go with the 2004 NBA Finals MVP award for the Detroit Pistons.
The former point guard had been considered one of the top contenders for the job alongside Jason Kidd.
"I like J. Kidd and Chauncey," Damian Lillard told Jason Quick and Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Lillard is a six-time All-Star, and a new voice in the locker room could be enough for the talented roster that includes CJ McCollum, Norman Powell (player option for 2021-22), Robert Covington, Jusuf Nurkic and Anfernee Simons to take the next step.
