Report: Blazers to Announce Chauncey Billups as Coach on Tuesday

The Trail Blazers scheduled a Tuesday press conference where the team is expected to announce Chauncey Billups as its new head coach, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic.

The Trail Blazers have scheduled a noon press conference on Tuesday to announce their new head coach. The team is not saying who the coach is but all indications are that it will be Chauncey Billups.
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) June 27, 2021

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Saturday that Portland would introduce Billups "as soon as early next week." The sides spent the weekend finalizing the details of Billups' contract after he officially accepted the job on Friday night, when news of the pact first broke.

General manager Neil Olshey and owner Jody Allen had decided on Wednesday that the Billups was the best candidate for Portland's head-coaching vacancy after meeting with him in Seattle. The organization then conducted an "internal investigation" into the 1997 sexual assault allegations against Billups that corroborated his denials of wrongdoing before formally offering him the position, according to ESPN.

Details of the reported rape can be found HERE (CONTENT WARNING).

Billups, the 2004 NBA Finals MVP with the Detroit Pistons and a five-time All-Star during his playing career, left the LA Clippers' broadcast booth this season to become a rookie assistant under Ty Lue. He's been lauded in LA for his evolving strategic acumen and keen ability to relate to players, as famously evidenced by the major playmaking strides taken by Paul George in 2020-21.

In his annual review of the league's top coaching prospects, ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz singled out Billups—long expected to eventually run a team, whether from the sidelines or front office—as "the likeliest candidate to receive a head-coaching opportunity sooner than later."

Billups' existing relationships with Olshey and Damian Lillard reportedly played a major factor in his hiring.

Other leading candidates to replace Terry Stotts in Portland were reportedly Mike D'Antoni and Becky Hammon.

[Jason Quick, The Athletic]

READ MORE: Damian Lillard—'I Wasn't Aware' of Chauncey Billups Allegations