Blazers West Rival Planned to Go After Chauncey Billups Before Extension: Report

One of the Trail Blazers rivals were planning on trying to poach their coach before he got an extension.

Apr 13, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups share a moment before the Trail Blazers play Los Angeles Lakers at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images / Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers had a tough season. Injuries really took over early in the year and they didn't really ever let up. It was hard for Chauncey Billups to know who he had on a night-to-night basis.

Portland tried as hard as they could to make the playoffs at the end of the season but fell just short. They did play some of their best basketball of the year after the All-Star break.

Billups' ability to get the best out of his team when they didn't have their best players was impressive. It's a big reason why he was rewarded with a contract extension.

Read more: Blazers, HC Chauncey Billups Agree to Massive Contract Extension

The Blazers believe that he is the right guy to lead this team into the future. He is hoping to have a healthier team next year.

The Trail Blazers weren't the only team that was interested in Billups. A rival Western Conference team was interested in bringing him in before Billups got the extension.

Phoenix was interested in bringing Billups in as their next head coach before Billups got an extension to stay in Portland.

FWIW, I'd heard a lot of chatter in the last few weeks that Chauncey Billups was going to be the Suns' top target in their coaching search. Could have been part of the Blazers' motivation to get something done before the end of the season.

— Sean Highkin (@highkin) April 14, 2025

The Suns fired Mike Budenholzers, firing their third coach in three seasons. They are clearly in disarray from the top of the organization down.

Even though Portland has some issues of its own, Billups seems to have made the right decision to stay. This looks like a more stable organization than what's happening in Phoenix.

There will be some changes when it comes to the personnel this summer. It would be extremely surprising if the Blazers ran everything back next year.

More Trail Blazers news: Blockbuster Trade Proposal Has Blazers Land All-Star From West Rival

There are likely going to be some trades that will benefit Portland's future. It's unclear what those moves will be, but it would be shocking to see certain players back next year.

It's unlikely that this team will be ravaged by injuries as badly as they were this year, but it's clear that this group is not good enough to contend. They are hoping for some lottery luck to help get them a young superstar to pull them out of the muck.

More Portland Trail Blazers news: Blazers Insider Warns Team Against Repeating Errors From Damian Lillard Era

Trail Blazers GM Joe Cronin Agrees to Multi-Year Extension

For more news and notes on the Portland Trail Blazers, visit Portland Trail Blazers on SI.