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There may be trouble brewing in Portland. Damian Lillard, the man who has done everything in his power to will the franchise, unsuccessfully, and without help, to playoff success, may finally be fed up. The organization just hired Chauncey Billups as its head coach, with many questioning Billups, who settled a sexual assault case in 1997.
Lillard was harassed online by Blazers fans about the incident and said that he wasn’t aware about Billups’ past. His top two choices for a new head coach were Jason Kidd (who has plead guilty to spousal abuse and assaulting his wife, and has had a DUI) and Billups, leaving many fans angry with Lillard.
Really? I was asked what coaches I like of the names I “heard” and I named them. Sorry I wasn’t aware of their history I didn’t read the news when I was 7/8yrs old. I don’t support Those things … but if this the route y’all wana come at me… say less https://t.co/N1GPkX3Ohd
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) June 26, 2021
The Blazers then handled the introductory presser in a pretty heinous, unprofessional way. When Billups was asked a reasonable and necessary question about his past and what he learned from it, Portland’s public relations team stepped in and prevented their new head coach, who is 44 years old, from answering for himself.
Here is Trail Blazers PR shutting down a valid question from @jwquick about Billups and the 1997 sexual assault allegations.
This is embarassing. #RipCity https://t.co/F59r5TYn2Z pic.twitter.com/wE5WLwIssb
— Dylan Mickanen (@DylanMickanen) June 29, 2021
Lillard wasn’t present at the presser and a report from Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports suggests he may want out after years of mediocrity and now dealing with a head coach who he’s conflicted by and a fanbase upset by the hiring and Lillard’s part in it. Per Haynes:
“The enormous backlash from the Portland Trail Blazers’ process to hire a new coach and his concerns on whether a championship contender can be built have become factors that may push the franchise player — Damian Lillard — out the door, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Lillard has remained loyal to Portland in large part due to the tremendous fan base. But over the last few days, he’s seen some of those same fans attacking him on social media for a pending coaching hire he played no part in consummating, sources said.”
The Athletic’s John Hollinger looked at the situation and broke down four scenarios for a potential Lillard trade, including a return to the Bay Area. Here’s how the Oakland kid, in Hollinger’s view, could become a Warrior.
“Golden State has enough interesting pieces to actually make this plausible. They have a matching contract in Andrew Wiggins, plus the kind of juicy young assets (last year’s No. 2 pick James Wiseman, this year’s No. 7 pick and No. 14 pick and at least two of their own future firsts that can be part of any deal) that are tough for any of the teams listed above to contend with.
Imagine this dream scenario for Golden State: Lillard and Nurkic to the Warriors for Wiggins, Wiseman, Jordan Poole, Eric Paschall, picks 7 and 14 in 2021 and the Warriors’ first-round picks in 2022 and 2026.
Can Golden State win that bidding war? I think it would have a really good chance. A better question is: Do the Warriors want to win that bidding war? Or would they rather use those pieces on a frontcourt player?
Another question: Can they afford to win that bidding war? A Warriors team with Lillard, Thompson, Curry and Draymond Green would have $165 million committed to just four players in 2023-24, presuming Curry signs an extension. To understand what a mind-boggling figure that is, this year’s projected luxury tax is $136 million. The Warriors would be $30 million past that plank with just a quarter of the roster filled; between that and the repeater penalty, they would easily be looking at writing a nine-figure check to the league.”
That’s the equation; the amount of money required to pull this off would be monumental, and filling out the rest of the roster would be a harrowing challenge. They would be left, effectively, with no depth. Still, you’d have a roster of Lillard, Curry, Thompson and Green, and if Joe Lacob and Peter Guber want to spend their money, that’s for them to sort out.
