Despite the Portland Trail Blazers missing out on the playoffs for the fourth season in a row, it cannot be denied that there’s still a lot of positives to take away from their 2024-25 season. That includes the multi-year extension that head coach Chauncey Billups just signed with the team heading into the offseason, which has definitely piqued the interest of many analysts as to how it affects the Blazers’ future as a whole.

While the Blazers did not release any terms surrounding the deal, it came before the final regular season game of the team, which was a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite finishing with a 35-46 record and being eliminated for the fourth straight season, they did perform better than expected, showing off that they can actually deliver some impressive wins when at full strength.

For Billups, this is quite a promising note considering that he’s endured a lot of criticism in the previous seasons – especially in the years where the team still had its franchise star in Damian Lillard before the subsequent trade to the Milwaukee Bucks. Now he gets to lead the team with its budding talent starting to show its full potential in the years to come.

A Significant Growth for Portland

Despite another losing season, the Blazers enjoyed a promising pace in their last 40 games, a stretch in which Portland ranked with the league’s third-best defensive rating. As the second-youngest team in the league, it is a promising feat to see them make a huge rally in late January to early February – enjoying a winning stretch with victories in 10 of their 11 games.

That has been a forging process for Portland – establishing a new identity for the team after moving on from its franchise player. For Billups, this is a huge success, and that is one of the biggest reasons why the team clearly wanted to extend and see him succeed with the team moving forward.

“I’m just so happy, with what we’ve done and where I think we can go,” Billups said. “So much promise here. I’m pumped about it.”

Billups is yet to have a winning season with the Blazers, but for a player who has spent competitive runs for most of his career, it is expected that he will eventually find success as Portland comes up with a promising campaign in the next few years with its developing talent.

Why Billups Deserved the Extension

Let’s be clear, being able to harness young talents in Scott Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija is not an easy feat. Signing Billups for more years to come means further development for the team on a consistent basis. However, one can say that the leadership is indeed impressed with the latter’s progress with the team so far.

“The core of Chauncey’s leadership is his ability to build a collaborative culture and growth mindset for our young team,” Blazers chair Jody Allen said in a statement. “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.”

While Portland is yet to reach its peak as one of the youngest teams in the league, it cannot be denied that Billups will be really a great coach for the team. Who knows, maybe the next season will be the big break that the team is waiting for after years of struggle and rebuild.