I think it could be, they will attract more FA's and they have as much talent now when it comes down to it.
id much rather coach 23 yo jayson tatum than a 31 yo dame lillard and portland as a franchise is nowhere near boston, which is top 2 franchise in the nba unless portland is a contender or boston is really bad, its easy choice
What if the Portland job also came with the GM job? That's what I would be asking Spoelstra, for example.
boston and la lakers both have 17 chips, no one else comes close portland has 1 and like i said, unless portland is really better, there should be no discussion where to go
I was just thinking that the circumstances of the Boston and Portland HC jobs are quite different, and Portland has a lot more negative circumstances * Boston finished with a .500 record and essentially, their GM stepped down tacitly admitting he'd done a poor job of roster construction. That kind of means, unless the new GM, which also happens to be the old coach, can work some magic in the off-season, the new HC should get some kind of grace period....and the bar is set at a .500 record and a 1st round exit * on the other hand, the Portland GM just fired the old coach while essentially saying the roster wasn't the problem. And that the new coach "better to be able to prove" his defensive chops before he's hired. And the old coach was fired after guiding the team to 12 games over .500 and that wasn't good enough. Furthermore, anybody who has paid attention know the GM has been totally committed to a small, no-defense back court and shows no real signs he's willing to go away from that while still demanding a much improved defense. And it could be that the Blazer GM is in the hot seat, and if he's fired in the next year, the new coach has less job security advantage: Boston job *********************************************** * Boston has two young all-stars with plenty of room for improvement And they are both good three points shooters with the ability to put the ball on the floor. They are also in that NBA sweet-spot of 6'6-6'9 wings. Extremely valuable and both are signed to long term deals for around 60M/ year combined * Portland has one elite player who will be 31 next season. And there are questions if he'll demand a trade if the new coach can't deliver a better team that the one that finished 12 games over .500. And Portland has that undersized, overpaid SG who combines with the Franchise player to hog around 80M in salary (or more) a year advantage: Boston job ************************************************ * Boston has a high salary, 4 time all-star PG and has shown a willingness to consider trades for him * Portland has a high salary, non-all-star SG and the GM has never shown much of a willingness to consider trades for him advantage: Boston job ************************************************** * Boston is in the Eastern Conference with a very realistic chance at HCA in the playoffs next season; and they have a 1st round draft pick, and a 2nd round draft pick * Portland is in the Western Conference, and based upon current situations, could easily be the 7th or 8th best team in the west next year. And they have no draft picks advantage: Boston job ************************************************** * one final disadvantage for Portland is that their mid-season acquisition is UFA this summer and may very well sign elsewhere. If he does, Portland takes a big hit on both offense and defense unless there's a giant gulf in offered salary, I have to think the Boston job looks more attractive. But maybe I'm grey-clouding Portland's situation too much
Boston hc job is far more prestigious imho. If Billups gets the offer from Boston, he would be silly not to take it.
