At 28-38, the Portland Trail Blazers are now five games back from the ten-seeded Dallas Mavericks and are running out of time to gain ground with just 16 games left to play. The Blazers' improved play may not lead to meaningful postseason basketball, but the focus should be on development for a young team like this. From that standpoint, this season has been an overall success.
They began the season looking similar to the 21-win team of last year but flipped a switch prior to the All-Star break with improved play that seems sustainable. In 2025, Portland has a 17-17 record. If they maintained that .500-level play the entire season, they'd be on track to make the Play-In Tournament.
That is a realistic goal for next year. But the looming question is, who will be leading this young core to help them take that leap?
Chauncey Billups’ future in Portland isn’t as certain as it once seemed
All signs pointed to an inevitable mutual parting between head coach Chauncey Billups and the Blazers at the end of the season.
However, NBA insider Marc Stein recently revealed new details on The Stein Line that suggest the situation remains more up in the air (subscription required) than previously thought, given Portland's improved play.
"Portland holds a team option on Billups for next season, but it was widely assumed in coaching circles when the season began that Billups was destined to be a candidate for other jobs at season's end," wrote Stein. "The tenor of that chatter has changed. More and more you hear whispers that the Blazers are presumed to have mounting interest retaining Billups beyond this season."
The extent of the Blazers' 'mounting interest' in keeping Billups remains to be seen. After all, he was hired by former GM Neil Olshey, leaving the possibility that current GM Joe Cronin may prefer to choose his own head coach.
But in some ways, Billups and Cronin have become a good match for each other. The Hall of Fame point guard is known for being defensive-minded, and Cronin has emphasized length and athleticism in his roster building. Billups' lineup with Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, and Jerami Grant, all in the starting five, is one example of how he utilizes that length. The Blazers had the fourth-best defensive rating in February, and Billups has finally figured out how to get the most out of this young roster.
Regardless of what happens, this new development isn't all that surprising, given how Billups has impressively turned around the Blazers' season.