Trail Blazers News: Hall of Famer Tried to Poach Chauncey Billups to West Contender
Following an uncompetitive first round sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Phoenix Suns were gearing up to fire head coach Frank Vogel after just one season. Vogel won a title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, but has since been the victim of some very questionable front office decisionmaking, including all-in trades for washed-up guards like Russell Westbrook in L.A. and Bradley Beal in Phoenix. Rather than fire itself, management tends to make the coach its sacrifical lamb first.
As this process was playing out, All-Star Suns power forward Kevin Durant was reportedly angling for Phoenix majority owner Mat Ishbia to explore stealing Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups for the Suns gig, according to Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.
Bringing in a starry Hall of Fame point guard-turned head coach is nothing new for Durant, who previously agitated for the Brooklyn Nets to hire Steve Nash — only to soon sour on the two-time league MVP and to eventually compel Nash's firing. Billups has posted an 81-165 overall head coaching record across his three regular seasons with Portland, with only 2023-24 planned to be a lottery-tanking season from Day 1. That's not entirely his fault, as the Trail Blazers were pretty deluded about the upside of their rosters in both 2021-22 and 2022-23. But Billups has also had something of a mixed developmental record. For instance, while fringe rookie pieces like Duop Reath and Toumani Camara enjoyed surprisingly intriguing runs this year (albeit on bad teams playing with zero pressure), No. 3 draft pick Scoot Henderson was something of a dud for much of the year. It's unclear, essentially, just how good or ready Billups is to coach a team with veteran players.
That's not going to be much of an issue for Phoenix, which swiftly moved to add the head coach it defeated in the 2021 NBA Finals, ex-MIlwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. But it's interesting that Billups has been drawing rumored rival interest while not building out a particularly impressive CV.
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ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM
Clyde, Rick Barry, and Pistol Pete Now these players, could never be beat.