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LA Clippers: Chauncey Billups an early candidate for head coaching jobs

By Evan Desai

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 20: Commentator Chauncey Billups looks on during the 2019 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 20, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 20: Commentator Chauncey Billups looks on during the 2019 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 20, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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During Friday night’s Game 6 thriller between the LA Clippers and Dallas Mavericks, huge coaching news in the NBA dropped.

It wasn’t revolving around Ty Lue, but it’s still relevant to the Clippers coaching staff.

Terry Stotts and the Portland Trail Blazers mutually agreed to go their separate ways.

LA Clippers Assistant Coach Chauncey Billups is an early candidate for the Trail Blazers Head Coach opening.

As a player in this league, Chauncey Billups played 17 years and made a name for himself as a high-Basketball IQ point guard with very good leadership qualities.

It was only a matter of time before he’d enter head coaching discussions like this.

This was his first year as an assistant coach in the NBA, and is already so highly-respected around the league that he is in the thick of the running for this job.

It’s not even just this job that he’s in the running for. Kendrick Perkins of ESPN even mentioned him as a candidate for the Boston Celtics head coaching vacancy.

Many like the idea of Billups being a head coach. It’s similar to last season when longtime Clipper Assistant Coach Sam Cassell was a name being mentioned in head coaching conversations, even our own.

Now, the two of them find themselves back in the thick of the conversation. Billups is a young 44 years of age, but we’ve seen NBA teams recently hire coaches around this age if they believe they’re qualified. The Clippers themselves hired Ty Lue, who is 44 years old, and the Brooklyn Nets recently hired Steve Nash, who is 47 years old.

Jason Kidd was hired by the Brooklyn Nets at 40. Age isn’t going to be a huge factor in these two searches, despite older guys such as Jeff Van Gundy and Mike D’Antoni being available.

Something that Kidd, Nash, Cassell, and Billups have in common is that they all displayed high Basketball IQ’s and strong leadership on the court when they were point guards.

The Clippers know they have a great assistant in Billups when he’s immediately entered in head coaching discussions when jobs pop up.

Next. 3 teams competing with the Clips for Kawhi Leonard. dark

Hopefully they’ll be able to keep him around, but there’s no doubt he has a lot of potential as a future Head Coach somewhere.

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