Trail Blazers name Chauncey Billups head coach

Chauncey Billups (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on Sunday, the Portland Trail Blazers have named Chauncey Billups of Denver, Colorado as their next head coach. Billups takes over from Terry Stotts of Cedar Falls, Iowa, who was fired on June 4, after Portland was eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in six games in the Western Conference quarterfinals.

Billups played 17 NBA seasons with the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Clippers from 1997 to 2014. He averaged 15.2 points per game, and 5.4 assists per game.

Billups’s most notable time was with the Pistons, where he was a NBA All-Star for three straight years from 2006 to 2008 at the point guard position. Billups was also on the Pistons team that won the 2004 NBA Finals. Detroit upset the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one, with Billups averaging 21 points per game over the five-game set. Somehow and someway, Detroit found a way to beat the Lakers squad led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

One must realize that Billups will not be joining the Trail Blazers coaching staff immediately. That is because he is still an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers. Currently, the Clippers trail the Phoenix Suns three games to one in the Western Conference Final. The loss of Kawhi Leonard in the series because of a knee injury has been huge for Los Angeles. The Suns are getting exceptional play from former first overall pick Deandre Ayton, who is averaging a double-double (20.3 points per game, and 13.5 rebounds per game) in the last four games.

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