This would be a great move. A great mentor for Lillard and overall a calming influence that OKC got when they signed Fisher.
Billups would be great. Supposedly one of the best locker room guys in the league. I'm just uncertain about his health.
Not sure you go after Billups to be a significant on court contributor. He'd be more of a veteran presence and mentor of Lillard.
I tend to think the Clips are not going to let him walk away, they’d give him up to $5 million to stick around for one year and I don’t see us matching that. The Clips don't need any exception or cap room to sign him to that type of a deal.
I think I said this in one of the Damian Lillard draft threads ... Billups is basically exactly the guy I think of when I think about a point guard with a sweet shot, but a lot of savvy, probably Lillard's ceiling if he's able to make the transition.
Yeah it really is. Now I have no idea if Lillard is going to be the defender that Chauncey was, and that's going to be pretty critical if you're talking about comparing the players, but if he's all that he's supposed to be cracked up to be as a shooter and pick and roll operator and if he can make good decisions finding LaMarcus and his shooters instead of trying to take a lot of hero shots, he can be a damned good player. Worst case he's going to be just another short shooting guard masquerading as a point ... I guess we're going to find out one way or another.
Just for the record, it's theoretically possible for the blazers to use the $3 Mil they'll have during the 3-day window, and then have $2.5 Mil New Room Exception, too for yet another player.
I've long since grown tired of the bitching around here about not having a GM, but... Now that we have one (apparently with both charm and big balls), I'm kinda happy.
Am I the only one who hates Billups' game? His pullup threes early in the shot clock, with guys draped all over him are momentum killers. In theory, he'd be a nice mentor for Dame, but I just dont' see it.
I would be very surprised if Billups is healthy by the start of the season. A torn achilles requires a lot of rehab time iirc.
Billups excites me more than Hibbert or Batum because Billups, a coach-on-the-floor, is so advanced in his development. Hibbert will regress without Bird's direction, and Batum never progressed so he can't regress. Lillard's development would doubly accelerate with Billups to imitate. A team with a rookie starting PG is a very bad team, so Billups would start. I wonder what the Clippers think of this. Wouldn't we be annoyed if Charlotte had stolen Cho, which they didn't, and he immediately tried to steal one of our players?
Billups would not start. Management has been very clear that Lillard will start from Day 1 with no competition. Billups is being asked to back up and mentor him. Good teams with starting rookie PGs: 1979 Champion Lakers Tony Parker's rookie season in SA 1993-94 Magic reached playoffs with Penny starting Sam Cassell came off bench but played a huge role on 94 title team Also Rondo won title in his second year.
