As the Portland Trail Blazers enter into a crucial offseason, they have to figure out what they want to do with head coach Chauncey Billups. Billups signed a five-year deal with Portland in 2021, including a team option in the final season. So unless Portland picks up that option, he would be entering the final guaranteed year on his deal.
With him only having one year left on his current contract with the team, they reportedly want to avoid dealing with the lame-duck situation next season.
According to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report, Portland wants to settle the uncertainty surrounding the team. Billups has become a talked-about figure around NBA circles despite the Blazers front office saying that he would be back next season.
However, they would need to give him an extension if they want to avoid the lame-duck scenario, something coaches typically don’t want to deal with. It could be tough for the team to give him any sort of contract extension due to the lack of success that they have seen over the years.
To his credit, the Blazers haven’t had the best talent to work with, especially this past season after they traded away star Damian Lillard. We could see a resolution to this entire situation rather quickly as Portland would prefer to have this figured out before the NBA Draft in June. But for now, Billups’ status for next season remains a little in question.
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