Chauncey Billups is known in the NBA circles as Mr. Big Shot. Now he is ready to take his first shot as a head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers as he officially signed a five year contract on Sunday according to ESPN.
Two of the top NBA insiders reported the proceedings at the start of the weekend. First, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Friday night that the Blazers put Billups at the top of their wish list.
Billups — the 2004 NBA Finals MVP — was offered the Trail Blazers job tonight and will be the new Portland coach. https://t.co/R05tXu0KLP
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 26, 2021
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the two sides had started their contract talks to reach a deal.
Billups will be replacing Terry Stotts, the Blazers coach since 2012 until the team parted ways with him after their first-round playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Chauncey’s history with franchise superstar Damian Lillard, who reportedly went on record preferring either Billups and Jason Kidd along with Portland’s president of basketball operations, Neil Olshey most likely played a part throughout Portland’s search process.
The Blazers have made the playoffs in eight straight seasons, but have been eliminated in the first round four out of the last five, including this season.
Chauncey Billups played 17 seasons in the NBA before spending time as an NBA analyst with ESPN and Clippers games before joining Ty Lue’s staff with the Clippers. He’s a five-time NBA All-Star and the MVP of the 2004 NBA Finals with the Detroit Pistons.
