Becky Hammon, Chauncey Billups Among Top Candidates in Trail Blazers Coaching Search

Shortly after falling to the Denver Nuggets in their opening playoff series, the Portland Trail Blazers parted ways with Terry Stotts and the search for a new head coach began.

While franchise cornerstone Damian Lillard initially mentioned Jason Kidd as someone he’d like to play for, Kidd pulled his name out of consideration for the position. 

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Blazers have a new list of top candidates for the head job in Portland. Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups, Spurs assistant Becky Hammon, Univ. of South Carolina/USA women’s coach Dawn Staley, Nets assistant Mike D’Antoni and Spurs executive Brent Barry are expected to be among those who receive the most interest from the Blazers’ front office to fill the role. 

Charania would go on to report that Hammon, who this season became the first woman to serve as head coach in an NBA game, will also be interviewing for the Orlando Magic vacant head coaching job as well. 

According to Jabari Young of CNBC, Damian Lillard is expected to wait to see what the Blazers do this off-season before deciding his future with the team. In 2019, Lillard and the Blazers agreed to a four-year, $196 million supermax contract extension. While he will likely play a huge role in choosing Portland’s next coach, the Blazers need to keep Lillard happy.