The Portland Trail Blazers named Chauncey Billups as their new head coach. The team announced the hiring Sunday night.

“Chauncey is a proven leader with an elite basketball IQ that has won everywhere he has been,” Neil Olshey, president of basketball operations said. “He is prepared for the challenge of developing the Championship habits and strategic approach we need to achieve the expectations and goals for our franchise.”

Billups will be introduced at a team news conference in Portland. Billups was offered the job on Friday night, and the sides had been progressing on a deal to replace former coach Terry Stotts over the weekend. Olshey and Billups’ agent, Andy Miller of Klutch Sports, finalized the contract terms on Sunday. The deal is for five years and includes a team option on the last season.

Portland’s move to hire Billups is a clear effort from the franchise to maximize superstar Damian Lillard‘s prime years. Under former coach Sotts, the Trail Blazers only advanced to two conference semifinals and a conference final appearance.

Before making a formal offer on Friday night, Portland continued investigating a 1997 rape allegation against Billups. No criminal charges were brought, but Billups settled a civil lawsuit filed by the woman.

Billups will be tasked with helping to shape a Trail Blazers defense that ranked amongst the worst in the league. The newly hired coach will expect to continue building on the team’s top offense of Lillard and CJ McCollum.

“Portland is a special place and a unique franchise,” Billups said in a statement. “As a player, I always loved playing here because the passion and knowledge of the fans brought out the very best in me as a competitor. Now I’m looking forward to being on the other side of that energy and engaging with the Portland community on a whole other level.”

It was all Dame time Wednesday night in a critical Game 5 matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers.

Damian Lillard posted one of the most impressive and arguably unforgettable playoff performances ever last night. The All-Star recorded 55 points and converted 12 shots from beyond the arc, an NBA playoff record. Despite his epic performance, Portland fell short in the double-overtime loss to Denver. Lillard played 52 minutes and shot 17-of-24 from the field, including 12-of-17 from long range. Not only did he hit a three at the end of regulation to force overtime, but he also nailed a deep three to force double overtime.

“It was the best playoff performance I’ve ever seen,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “He gave it his all.”

“Damian Lillard was superhuman tonight,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.

Lillard did not reflect on his performance but instead on the outcome of the game. “It doesn’t matter. We lost the game,” Lillard said. “At this point, all that matters is we can’t lose another game in the series. We go out there, and we play to win the game, and we came up short.”

Lillard’s offensive efforts helped keep the game close until the very end. Lillard showcased “Dame time” with an ice-cold step back three-pointer to send the game to overtime at the end of regulation.

Lillard then did it again with less than 10 seconds left in overtime, as he hit another three-pointer to tie the game and force double overtime.

“The degree of difficulty on which he hit some of those shots is godlike,” CJ McCollum said of Lillard. “To be able to create space and shoot from so far out contested time after time. It’s a shame we wasted one of the all-time performances by not being more supportive for him.”

“It was a pleasure to be on the court to witness that,” Nuggets star Nikola Jokic said of Lillard’s performance.

Despite Lillard’s great performance, the Blazers were unable to win the game, as Denver heavily guarded Lillard in double overtime to take a 147-140 win and a 3-2 series lead.

“It’s do or die now,” Lillard said after the loss. “Gotta win both of the next two games if we want our season to continue. It’s simple as that”

The Blazers tweeted about Lillard’s historic performance.

Now it’s do-or-die time for Portland as the series heads back to Portland for a must-win Game 6 on Thursday night.

The Portland Trail Blazers are finally making the decision many expected them to make a full offseason ago by preparing to get rid of coach Terry Stotts, according to The Athletic‘s Shams Charania and Sam Amick. According to The Athletic, if Stotts can’t “pull a rabbit out of his hat” with “a playoff miracle,” Portland is expected to opt for a new coach.

This move makes complete sense, as the Trail Blazers have been stuck in the mud for quite some time now. Although they’ve been a playoff team since the 2012-2013 season, or Stotts’ first year, they’ve never reached the finals. They’re ceiling appeared to have been in the 2018-2019 season, in which they reached the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors, only to fall in a sweep.

The Athletic also reports that Stotts has less player support now than he did in years past. He’s seemingly lost the locker room, which is integral to maintain as a head coach. Players like Damian Lilliard, who were outspoken in years past in support of their head coach, have gone silent amidst the team’s average season.

The Blazers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night to move to 37–29. They are currently tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 6 seed, but the Lakers have the tiebreaker. That means that if the season ended today, the Blazers would be tasked with playing in the play-in tournament as the No. 7 seed.

When the season concludes and the team potentially decides to fire Stotts and go in another direction, they should go all in on a rebuild and trade Lillard and CJ McCollum. This team has reached its ceiling and needs to start fresh. The Trail Blazers should consider proven coaches as Stotts’ replacement as well, including Jason Kidd, Nate McMillan, Dave Joerger and Chauncey Billups. Kenny Atkinson could be a great hire for a rebuilding team as well. Stotts has nothing to be ashamed of with his tenure, as he recorded nearly 400 wins. It was an excellent run, but the Blazers need a new man on the bench.

On Monday, the Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts told reporters that CJ McCollum would have his foot evaluated in about a week. However, it was announced on Monday night that McCollum has a small hairline fracture in his left foot along with a mid-sprain. These injuries will keep him sidelined for at least four weeks.

As a result, the Blazers will be without one of their leading scorers, and until his return, McCollum will be in a walking boot. Just a week ago, McCollum hit a game-winning shot against the Toronto Raptors.

McCollum fell to his injuries on Saturday, as the Blazers reigned victorious over the Atlanta Hawks to the tune of 112-106. McCollum left the game at halftime just as a precaution. The team wanted to be cautious because McCollum has already broken his left foot twice during his career. Additionally, McCollum has been having himself a great season so far, averaging 26.7 points and 5.0 assists per game.

Later, McCollum underwent X-rays and an MRI, which further determined the extent of his injury. Without McCollum on Monday, the Blazers fell to the San Antonio Spurs by a score of 125-104, and the team’s record fell to 8-6. The Blazers are going to have to play at least three more games without McCollum, including their back-to-back games.

It doesn’t help that starting center Jusuf Nurkic will be out for the long haul after suffering a right wrist fracture last week. Expect Damian Lillard to pick up the slack in the absence of Nurkic and McCollum. Lillard will miss his backcourt partner as the Blazers look to retain their winning ways without two of their three best players in the upcoming weeks.

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