Seems like Blazers could let him keep some of his guaranteed salary and then Billups would be free to yes get a different job. If Billups stays would think either Blazers/Billups can't agree on $ settlement, or Billups just genuinely loves working with young players for a losing franchise. The assistant coach aspect is very odd though, especially his brother. Are these contracts the team won't consider extending that is out of Billups.control? Or was a speration already agreed by all parties and this is just a formal notice?
Don't think it matters much at this point except for the guys that just lost their job. Wish them well and hope they find a good place to continue to grow as coaches.
There are 30 head coaching positions. And only maybe 30 lead assistant positons. Perhaps your idea is true with established coaches, but men/women trying to break into the NBA who actually want to coach would not dismiss any opening.
One who nobody knows is good yet. That's our only hope at landing a great coach before getting a great team. There was a time when nobody knew Phil, Pop, or Spoelstra were good coaches.
Reminds me first of the Stotts criticism, and secondly reminds me of all the Neil Olshey criticisms around here. There were very strong beliefs of how improved we could be with a new coach and then with a new GM. Not that I loved the moves Olshey did, he had many many faults and many shortcomings. But I don't know that Cronin has been any better and there's a legit argument he's actually been worse. I was certainly more confident in Olshey ability to get the owner to pony up cash if that were needed, Cronin seems like he'll just blindly execute whatever Jody/Vulcan cost cutting directive is thrown at him regardless of the talent impact, and doesn't have as much charisma to convince ownership to do anything different. Similarly if we move on from Chauncey, even with all his faults, I have little faith we will ultimately end up with a coaching upgrade. With how lacking of talent this franchise roster is I'm not even sure how one would measure a coach. Kind of just the shitty position this franchise and fanbase is going to be in for many years ahead when we have a bottom 5 NBA ownership.
To be fair here he did say "Decent". Now there could be a beginner that is "Decent" but that remains to be seen? Many felt Billups and even Cheeks would be decent. I personally feel Chauncey has been given a bad rap at this point. How can you truly judge what he has done?
I agree it is difficult to really grade CB, but many question his substitutions. I see no benefit to replacing him as long as he accepts the rebuild this season, meaning vets that have value on win now teams are moved for expiring and picks. If he does not want to go full rebuild then yes, move off of him.
Yeah, I have more faith in Cronin, if for no other reason than he hasn't made as many ego-based mistakes as Olshey did. Cronin seems much more level-headed. I have absolutely zero confidence in ownership. None. And I have no doubt that will impact Cronin's ability to rebuild this team. Including trades, hiring coaches, etc I didn't originally like the Terry Stotts hire. But once I saw the way he embraced Portland and our history, and the culture that he fostered with the team I changed my mind. He did more than he should have with what he was given. After Aldridge left we had no business making the conference finals in any season. We didn't have a roster that should have been favored in basically any first round playoff series after we lost Aldridge. I have no faith that anything is going to improve with this franchise until it is sold. I hope Cronin gets a chance to do his job to the best of his abilities. But I don't have any faith that current ownership will allow that.
I agree as well. If you get a rookie head coach, there usually is a learning curve. "Substitutions" for a young team that is in tank mode are the least of my concerns. If you bring in another rookie head coach he will have a learning curve as well. Would a top NBA coach take the Blazer job this summer? Doubtful. They will wait a couple of years until they feel they can win. No coach wants to be asked to intentionally lose.
Much like my comments about Chauncey, I think there is a learning curve for rookie GMs too. The question is has Cronin learned from his mistakes? I think he has gotten better. He is in a tough spot right now.....having to lose again this year on purpose.
Agreed. Whatever coach they have needs to be focused on development first. And the games should be coached with development in mind. Including developing a winning mentality. It's a tough line to straddle. But whoever is brought in need to understand that. Preferably somebody who has turned a program around in the past. Somebody who started with nothing and developed some kind of champion.
This is why they need to flip the script. If they keep all of these vets that do not even add up to a play in team on the roster, they will be tanking, faking injuries and what not for ping pong balls. But, if they trade these vets for expiring and picks they have just moved in to the rebuilding phase. Then play all the young players with Ayton trying to win. Encouraging it. They will win some, but should be positioned for ping pongs balls without trying. They are rebuilding. That should be the mantra over tanking, REBUILDING.
