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Trail Blazers Parting Ways With Three Assistant Coaches

April 30th, 2025 at 12:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers signed head coach Chauncey Billups to a multiyear extension earlier this month, but they won’t be retaining all of his assistant coaches.

According to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian, Portland has opted against renewing the contracts of assistants Roy Rogers, Chris Fleming, and Ryan Gomes.

Rogers was the longest-tenured assistant of the bunch, having been part of the initial coaching staff following Billups’ hiring in 2021. Rogers, who oversaw the defense, has been on NBA coaching staffs for the better part of two decades. Before arriving in Portland, he also served as an assistant for the Nets, Celtics, Pistons, Wizards, Rockets, Bulls, and Clippers.

Fleming, who previously worked as an assistant for the Nuggets, Nets, and Bulls and was a head coach in Germany, just joined the Trail Blazers a year ago. As Fentress details, Fleming put in plenty of work with second-year guard Scoot Henderson and helped coordinate the club’s offense.

Gomes, a former NBA player, had worked for the Blazers as a player development coach for the last two seasons.

The Blazers are continuing to evaluate their staff and could make additional changes, according to Fentress, who hears from a source that replacements for the departing assistants have not yet been identified. With a multiyear extension in hand, Billups figures to have a major hand in selecting those replacements.

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Northwest Notes: Conley, SGA, MPJ, Blazers

April 23rd, 2025 at 11:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Eighteen-year veteran Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley has battled through a difficult 2024/25 season, but he’s finally rounding into form just in time for the playoffs, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.

Minnesota is currently tied at 1-1 in its first round playoff series against Los Angeles.

“This season has been one of the toughest ones I’ve had to deal with,” Conley said. “Obviously, a lot of expectation coming into the season after the year we had, myself included, to not be feeling the best to start the season and not playing the best — those combinations are not good together.”

Conley has been hampered since last summer by a left wrist injury since last summer that he expects will eventually need to be repaired surgically. The former All-Star, who is in the first season of a two-year, $20.8MM deal, also dislocated his finger around the All-Star break.

“In the health part, it was like, am I ever gonna get my wrist right?” Conley said. “Or am I ever gonna get feeling the same where I can hold the ball again correctly, or, not feel pain? And stuff like that. Those are all questions that were staying in my head. Once that went away, the game started to slowly come back together and it’s easier to be confident when you know you’re not feeling something crazy every time you flick your wrist or dribble the ball or play defense.”

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

  • Despite two inefficient nights from All-NBA Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City obliterated Memphis in both instances. Gilgeous-Alexander, who is connecting on just 32.6% of his shots from the field in those victories, celebrated his team’s depth in the wake of his underwhelming performances, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “I feel like I’m getting looks I usually make and just missing them,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That’s part of basketball. It’s ups and downs, makes and misses. Because my team is really good, we’ve won two games by a decent margin. They’ve had my back these last two nights. Hopefully, I pick it up soon.” The Thunder star scored 27 points in Game 2, but went just 10-of-29 from the field. Star forward Jalen Williams stepped up with 24 points, while big man Chet Holmgren added 20.
  • Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. is considered questionable to suit up for Game 3 of Denver’s 1-1 series with the Clippers due to a left shoulder sprain. According to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post, interim head coach David Adelman is relatively confident the 6’10” vet will be available. “I’m very optimistic, because I don’t think he gets enough credit for how tough he is, what he’s played through over these years,” Adelman said. “His pain threshold is something that people don’t understand. … So, do I know if Mike’s going to play? No. But I do know if Mike can play, he will.” Porter injured his shoulder with 1:35 remaining in regulation, forcing Adelman to once again close with sixth man guard Russell Westbrook.
  • The Trail Blazers recently opted to extend both GM Joe Cronin and coach Chauncey Billups thanks to a surprisingly solid 36-46 season. Now, Portland is considered a team to watch heading into the offseason, according to longtime NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), who note that the team will have several veterans on expiring contracts to monitor: Anfernee Simons, Matisse Thybulle, Robert Williams, and Deandre Ayton.
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2025 NBA Draft Tiebreaker Results

April 21st, 2025 at 4:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Tiebreakers among teams with identical regular-season records were broken on Monday through random drawings to determine the order for this year’s draft prior to the lottery.

The results are as follows, according to a press release from the league (Twitter link):

  • Phoenix Suns (No. 9) over Portland Trail Blazers (No. 10)
    • The Suns will get one more lottery ball combination (out of 1,000) than the Trail Blazers.
    • The Suns’ pick will be sent to the Rockets.
  • Dallas Mavericks (No. 11) over Chicago Bulls (No. 12)
    • The Mavericks will get one more lottery ball combination (out of 1,000) than the Bulls.
  • Sacramento Kings (No. 13) over Atlanta Hawks (No. 14)
    • The Kings will get one more lottery ball combination (out of 1,000) than the Hawks.
    • The Kings’ pick will be sent to the Hawks if it’s outside of the top 12.
    • The Hawks’ pick will be sent to the Spurs.
  • Memphis Grizzlies (No. 18) over Milwaukee Bucks (No. 19) over Golden State Warriors (No. 20)
    • The Grizzlies’ pick will be sent to the Wizards.
    • The Bucks’ pick will be sent to the Nets.
    • The Warriors’ pick will be sent to the Heat.
  • Los Angeles Lakers (No. 22) over Indiana Pacers (No. 23) over Los Angeles Clippers (No. 24) over Denver Nuggets (No. 25)
    • The Lakers’ pick will be sent to the Hawks.
    • The Clippers’ pick will be sent to the Thunder.
    • The Nuggets’ pick will be sent to the Magic.

While the tiebreaker winner will pick ahead of the loser(s) in the first round, that order will be flipped in the second round.

For instance, the Warriors’ second-round pick (traded to the Grizzlies) will be at No. 48, followed by the Bucks’ pick (traded to Detroit) at No. 49, and the Grizzlies (traded to New York) at No. 50 — that’s the opposite of their order in the first round.

For lottery teams that finished with identical records, the second-round order is still to be determined depending on the lottery results.

For example, if Phoenix’s first-round pick (traded to Houston) stays at No. 9 and the Blazers’ first-rounder stays at No. 10, Portland’s second-round pick (traded to Toronto) would be at No. 39 and Phoenix’s (traded to Washington) would be No. 40. But if the Trail Blazers win the No. 1 overall pick on lottery night, moving ahead of Phoenix in the first round, then the Suns’ second-round pick would be No. 39, while Portland’s would be No. 40.

We’ll publish the full lottery odds and pre-lottery draft order for 2025 later tonight.

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G League’s All-Defensive, All-Rookie Teams Unveiled

April 17th, 2025 at 2:43pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA has officially announced (via Twitter) the G League’s All-Defensive Team for the 2024/25 season. Here’s the full five-player list:

All-NBA G League Defensive Team

The top rookies of the NBAGL season were also unveiled on Thursday (Twitter link). They are as follows:

All-NBA G League Rookie Team

Key, who was recently promoted to a standard contract with Golden State, was named the NBAGL’s Defensive Player of the Year, while Alexander won Rookie of the Year. Badji, who recently signed with a Spanish club, and Nogues, who has declared for the 2025 NBA draft, finished second and third in DPOY voting, respectively. Jones Garcia was the runner-up for ROY, with Young finishing third.

As our tracker shows, Alexander, Jenkins, Young and Dennis are on two-way contracts with their respective NBA clubs.

Journeyman center Brown also earned a spot on the All-NBA G League Second Team, while Alexander made the Third Team.

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2024/25 All-NBA G League Teams Announced

April 17th, 2025 at 1:14pm CST by Rory Maher

In a series of tweets, the NBA has announced the three All-NBA G League teams for the 2024/25 season. Here’s the full list of honorees:

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

* Denotes two-way contract

^ Denotes standard contract

~ On a standard contract with the Cavaliers

While each player selected has some level of NBA experience, four of them — Flynn, Nowell, Brown and Warren — are currently free agents. Of that group, only Warren didn’t appear in an NBA regular season game during the ’24/25 campaign.

Davison, Tshiebwe and Nowell finished first, second and third in voting (in that order) for this season’s G League Most Valuable Player award, so it’s no surprise that they made the First Team. McClung, who was the league’s 2023/24 MVP, helped Osceola make the NBAGL Finals this spring, with the final spot going to former Pistons guard Flynn, who signed a 10-day contract with Charlotte last month.

Mason Jones recently helped Stockton win its first G League title, earning Finals MVP in the process. He’s joined on the Second Team by NBAGL Most Improved Player Harkless, McGowens, Brown, and Timme.

Former first-round pick Okeke signed a pair of 10-day contracts with Philadelphia before signing with Cleveland ahead of the playoffs. NBA veteran Warren, G League Rookie of the Year Alexander, Heat two-way guard Christopher, and Kings big man Jones round out the Third Team.

Davison and Isaac Jones were promoted from two-way deals to standard contracts at the end of the season. Timme was an NBA free agent before Brooklyn gave him a two-year standard contract in March due to his strong play in the NBAGL.

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Trail Blazers Notes: Henderson, Clingan, Billups, Offseason

April 16th, 2025 at 9:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

Scoot Henderson looked more like a high lottery pick in his second NBA season than he did as a rookie, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. The No. 3 selection in the 2023 draft improved his shooting numbers to 41.9% from the field and 35.4% from three-point range and got to play in some significant games as the Trail Blazers remained in play-in contention late in the season.

“I’d say this year, I guess the game kind of slowed down,” Henderson said. “Things like that only come from playing and experiencing the NBA in general … I think I had more fun.”

Fentress adds that Henderson plans to spend the offseason working on his technique in all parts of the game, with an emphasis on learning how to be a better shot creator for himself and his teammates and finishing near the basket with his left hand. His confidence is buoyed by Portland’s success, as the team went 23-18 over the second half of the season and won 10 of 11 games at one point.

“I kind of liked seeing a little bit of who we are,” he added. “We kind of got our swag there, and when we get our swag like that, it’s tough to stop.”

There’s more from Portland:

  • Rookie Donovan Clingan began to blossom when starting center Deandre Ayton suffered a season-ending calf injury in early February, Fentress states in a separate story. Clingan started getting consistent playing time and responded by averaging 8.8 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game for the rest of the season. “It was great to see DC out there get some good bump,” Ayton said. “Knowing that he’s a two-time national championship guy, I know he wasn’t used to coming off the bench. So, just having the half of the season, starting, you could definitely see the confidence build up. And you saw his body change a little bit, him getting into better shape.”
  • In another piece, Fentress shares the details of the contract extension head coach Chauncey Billups received last week. League sources tell Fentress that the Blazers picked up the fifth-year option on Billups’ current deal and added two more seasons, extending it through 2027/28. The new contract is fully guaranteed, Fentress adds, and Billups received a raise, although the amount wasn’t disclosed. Sources tell Fentress that Billups earned about $4.7MM this season.
  • The Blazers should stick to their long-term plan and not get caught up in this season’s success, contends Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (subscription required). He compares the situation to the 2016 offseason when Portland invested heavily in free agents after Damian Lillard led the team to an unexpected fifth seed and a first-round playoff victory.
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And-Ones: Clutch Player Award, NBA Europe, Award Picks, Oweh

April 15th, 2025 at 6:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The official candidates for Clutch Player of the Year have been revealed, NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor tweets. Here’s the list of candidates that voters can select for the award, as chosen by the league’s 30 head coaches:

Curry won the award last year.

We have more from around the international basketball world:

  • While the NBA is trying to establish a new league in Europe, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum insists that the goal is not to replace the EuroLeague, Eurohoops relays via a Reuters interview. “Our goal is to create a commercially viable league that features high quality on -court competition and respects the rich tradition of European basketball. And we think that that will better serve fans and players on the continent,” Tatum said. He notes that there are major cities in Europe that don’t have a team where the NBA can establish roots. “There are big markets in Europe that aren’t being serviced today, where there are millions of basketball fans that aren’t being serviced,” he said. London, Paris, Berlin and Rome are among the candidates that NBA Europe considers as prime targets.
  • The Athletic’s John Hollinger reveals his award picks. He has Gilgeous-Alexander atop his MVP list and the Rockets’ Amen Thompson as his Defensive Player of the Year. O’Connor, writing for Yahoo Sports, has the same duo winning those awards. They also both have Stephon Castle taking Rookie of the Year honors, Payton Pritchard atop their Sixth Man of the Year lists, and Kenny Atkinson as Coach of the Year.
  • Kentucky junior guard Otega Oweh will test the draft waters, Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 tweets. Oweh averaged 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals this past season. He played his first two seasons at Oklahoma.
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Blazers Notes: Cronin, Billups, Avdija, Future

April 14th, 2025 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

As Jason Quick of The Athletic writes, it’s rare for a 36-win team to reward its general manager and head coach with contract extensions like the Trail Blazers have done this month with Joe Cronin and Chauncey Billups.

However, Portland’s record this season was its best since 2020/21 and the team took a real step forward, with young players like Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, and Donovan Clingan showing improvement while Deni Avdija enjoyed a breakout year and Toumani Camara established himself as one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders. As Quick relays, Cronin believes the team is in position to start targeting specific positions and skills instead of just stockpiling talent.

“As a front office, we don’t feel that pressure to take swing after swing to try and hit on the next up-and-coming guy,” the GM explained. “We are starting to feel really comfortable with our talent base that we can be more diligent about adding specific types of guys.”

While the Blazers have a promising core of young talent, it’s unclear if any of the players currently on the roster will develop into the kind of All-Star capable of leading a contender. Cronin and Billups suggested they aren’t worried about the fact that a franchise player has yet to emerge.

“There’s a lot of talent on this roster, and I wouldn’t put ceilings on a lot of these guys,” Cronin said, per Quick. “There is still a lot of time and talent that can be maximized. So these guys … I wouldn’t write them off to becoming star-level guys.”

“It’s true you need to have top-flight guys, but to me, we are raising that, we are growing that,” Billups added. “I look at Oklahoma City, they traded for Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), but he wasn’t a star yet. Now he’s probably going to be the MVP. Joker (Nikola Jokic) wasn’t a star when he got to Denver. They raised him into that. Giannis (Antetokounmpo) wasn’t a star when he got to Milwaukee. They raised him into that. That’s where I think we are trying to go … Deni, Shaedon, Scoot, Ant (Anfernee Simons) … We are raising those guys.”

Here’s more out of Portland:

  • Noting that he heard “a lot of chatter” about the possibility of Billups being the top target in the Suns‘ upcoming head coaching search, Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Twitter link) suggests that may have been part of the reason why the Blazers wanted to get an extension done with Billups before the season ended.
  • Avdija admitted during his end-of-season media session that it was “hard to adjust” last fall after being traded from Washington to Portland but that he “didn’t look back” once he got comfortable with his new team, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. The forward’s numbers reflect that — he averaged just 9.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game with a .346/.233/.813 shooting line in his first 13 outings, then posted 18.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 4.1 APG on .495/.385/.775 shooting in 59 games after that, including 23.3 PPG, 9.7 RPG, and 5.2 APG on .508/.417/.782 shooting in 20 post-All-Star appearances.
  • “The future is super bright,” Avdija said of the Blazers (per Eurohoops). “I love playing with this team. We’re young. We’re exciting. We have a lot of talent.” The 24-year-old added that he plans to suit up for Israel during the 2025 EuroBasket tournament.
  • While the Blazers took positive steps forward this season, they still have a long way to go before they can be considered a reliable playoff-caliber club, opines Bill Oram of The Oregonian. “I think that’s a reasonable expectation,” Cronin said when Oram asked him about making the playoffs next season. “Assuming our guys keep getting better, assuming we do our jobs and keep adding talent to this roster. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be competitive in that regard.”
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Stein/Fischer’s Latest: Griffin, Green, Suns, Beal, More

April 13th, 2025 at 1:02pm CST by Luke Adams

There has been buzz around the NBA this weekend about the future in New Orleans, where the futures of Pelicans head of basketball operations David Griffin and head coach Willie Green appear tenuous, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). League sources tell The Stein Line that some people around the league are “undeniably bracing” for Griffin’s exit from the franchise, with Green also said to be on the hot seat.

While injuries were once again a significant factor this season, it has been a disappointing run in recent years for the Pelicans, who haven’t been able to capitalize on getting the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft and acquiring significant trade hauls for Anthony Davis (in 2019) and Jrue Holiday (2020). The club has made the playoffs in only two of the past six seasons and won just two total games in those postseason appearances.

Dyson Daniels‘ rise in Atlanta this season, after he was sent to the Hawks in last summer’s Dejounte Murray trade, has been a “source of tension” within the Pelicans organization, Stein and Fischer say, noting that Green has been questioned internally for having often leaned on Jose Alvarado over Daniels from 2022-24.

Still, Stein and Fischer caution that there were “whispers” about Green’s job being in danger following New Orleans’ 5-29 start in the fall and he has made it through the season, so there’s a chance he could be retained through the offseason too. He’s known to hold “significant support” from owner Gayle Benson, according to The Stein Line.

Here are a few more items of interest from Stein and Fischer:

  • While it’s somewhat rare for a team to clean house by firing its head of basketball operations and head coach at the same time, Denver did it last week and the Suns have been “painted” as a team that could follow suit, write Stein and Fischer. General manager James Jones has been atop the front office hierarchy since 2018, whereas head coach Mike Budenholzer just joined the organization on a five-year contract in 2024.
  • In addition to exploring a Kevin Durant trade, the Suns are “known to be trying to extricate themselves” from the final two years of Bradley Beal‘s contract, Stein and Fischer confirm. That will be easier said than done, given his no-trade clause and the $111MM he’s still owed. But for what it’s worth, plugged-in Phoenix insider John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 said last week that there’s a “zero percent change” Beal will be back on the Suns next season (Twitter link).
  • If Chauncey Billups hadn’t signed a contract extension with the Trail Blazers, there was a belief he might emerge as a candidate in Phoenix and/or Denver, according to Fischer and Stein. It remains to be seen whether the Suns will make a coaching change this spring, but some of their players were said last May to be high on Billups. The Nuggets, meanwhile, will definitely have a coaching vacancy, but it’s unclear whether or not they would have targeted Billups — as Fischer and Stein explain, there was a sense that Billups, a Denver native, would have been interested in that job if Portland hadn’t retained him.
  • Berlin, Germany and London, England are viewed as the frontrunners among European cities to host NBA regular season games next season, with Manchester also believed to be in consideration, per The Stein Line.
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Blazers Sign Coach Chauncey Billups To Multiyear Extension

April 13th, 2025 at 10:50am CST by Rory Maher

10:50am: Billups’ extension is now official, the Trail Blazers confirmed in a press release.

“The core of Chauncey’s leadership is his ability to build a collaborative culture and growth mindset for our young team,” said Jody Allen, chair of the Portland Trail Blazers. “We’re very happy to extend his contract as head coach, and excited to see his continued work developing our players and transforming this team into one capable of long-term success.”

According to Chris Haynes (Twitter link), Portland exercised its option on Billups for ’25/26 and his extension covers two additional years, so he’s now under contract until 2028.

10:32am: The Trail Blazers intend to sign head coach Chauncey Billups to a multiyear contract extension, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.

Billups’ new deal comes less than a week after general manager Joe Cronin signed his own multiyear extension with Portland. The two have been friends for decades, Charania notes.

2024/25 was the final guaranteed season of Billups’ initial contract with the Blazers, who held a team option for ’25/26. He has been the club’s head coach since ’21/22, compiling a 116-211 regular season record (.355 winning percentage) over the past four seasons.

Billups indicated last summer that he might not be interested in returning as Portland’s head coach beyond this season, and rumors in the first few months of ’24/25 suggested that the two sides were likely to part ways. However, the Blazers somewhat unexpectedly went 10-4 heading into the All-Star break, and the 48-year-old said at the time that he was happy with the team’s progress and hoped to see the rebuild through.

“Me personally, I definitely think that I’ve done enough (to earn a new contract),” Billups said in February. “But I’m also not about to petition for that. I’m not gonna do that. I feel like I’ve done enough. I feel like I’ve developed a ton myself, which needed to happen.”

As Charania writes, the Blazers have gone 22-18 since January 19 and have a top-five defense during that time. Portland holds a 35-46 record heading into Sunday’s season finale vs. the Lakers after winning just 21 games a year ago.

Billups had a highly successful career as a player, having been named to the Hall of Fame last year. The five-time All-Star won a championship and Finals MVP with Detroit back in 2004.

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