Chauncey Billups’ time with the Portland Trail Blazers has been underwhelming at best.
At worst, it’s been a complete train wreck. But mostly, it’s felt like waiting out a Portland freight train at 11th and Division as you sit back, watch, and wonder, When … will … this … pass!?
What started with a 2021 hire mired in controversy has become one of NBA history’s worst winning percentages through 247 games, the number of contests Billups has coached.
At this point, it feels like we need to ask when the Blazers will part ways with Billups, not if they will. But for now, while we wait out that timeline, SportsBetting.ag has ranked Billups atop the favorites to be fired next:
Top 10 Odds: Next Coach Fired
- Chauncey Billups 2/1
- Willie Green 3/1
- Billy Donovan 5/1
- Darko Rajakovic 6/1
- Nick Nurse 8/1
- Brian Keefe 9/1
- Will Hardy 10/1
- Mike Budenholzer 12/1
- Charles Lee 14/1
- Chris Finch 20/1
The ‘Favorite’
We’ve seen one firing during the 2024-25 season: The Sacramento Kings’ Mike Brown.
The move was surprising, but it’s probably more shocking that no one else has received the axe by the midway point.
I’ll say this: Nobody would be surprised if Portland fired Billups today following another disastrous loss Thursday night, this time 118-89 to the LA Clippers. Nobody would be surprised if he was gone Friday, Saturday, or even at the trade deadline, Nate McCMillan-style (2012). The move would be far less controversial than the Kings outsing Brown.
However, if the Blazers had planned to fire Billups midseason, it would likely have happened already. Remember the team’s 45-point loss to Memphis on Nov. 10? That was the team’s fifth loss in six games, and it came less than a month before another 40-point flop on Dec. 6 versus Utah (once again, their fifth loss in a six-game stretch).
Between the team’s record and the outside perception that Billups has no offensive scheme, it’s been a bad year for the coach. That said … there’s something about Willie Green at 3/1 odds that feels like the better bet.
Green’s New Orleans Pelicans are the biggest disappointment out West, and that can quickly flip the script on a coach’s long-term status.
247 Games
Of course, context is key. And the context, in most cases, will take years worth of work into account, not just half of one season.
Taking a step back, Green’s win percentage sits at .516 over 246 games—just one game fewer than Billups.
Billups’ total win percentage’? Not so respectable.
Through Thursday’s loss, Billups’s career win percentage with Portland sits at .329. That’s across three-and-a-half seasons and 247 games, and it’s tied with Johnny Kerr for the sixth-worst mark for any coach in history across 247 minimum contests.
What About Billups’ ‘Hand’?
Again, context is vital because a coach can only play the hand he’s dealt.
In Billups’ case, he might’ve inherited one of the league’s worst long-term rosters. General Manager Joe Cronin’s lack of direction before and after Damian Lillard’s departure deserves some blame for the slow progress. Owner Jody Allen’s apparent resistance to sell also adds to any discomfort. If you empathize with Billups, you have these to fall back on.
But as a coach, playing your hand is part of the job, and you know that more than nine times out of 10, your seat will heat up before anyone in the front office and before most on the court.
Losing games doesn’t have to mean losing good vibes. But in Portland, those two have gone hand in hand for stretches this season.
Will Billups Be Fired Next?
Above all else, my money is still on Willie Green at 3/1 odds as the next NBA fire. And to be honest, I’d take “the field” over Billups at this point, too.
I don’t think Cronin wants to drastically shuffle the deck midseason, so I expect a deadline trade, but I don’t expect him to blow up the veteran core just yet.
If Billups sticks through the year, there will be no firing in the offseason. His contract will come to a close, there will be a mutual parting of the ways, and both sides will move on. That will be different than a firing, and oddsmakers will recognize as much looking back on this bet.
Until then, watch for Willie Green in New Orleans, Billy Donovan in Chicago, and Nick Nurse in Philadelphia as “sleeper” bets behind Billups, the fave.
Just don’t quote me on Billups’ in-season status if Portland goes full Blazers and loses another game by 45 points.
In that case, all bets are off.
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