The Portland Trail Blazers' decision to hire Chauncey Billups as their next head coach was met with considerable backlash, and to make matters even worse, the franchise colossally failed its transparency test.
During Billups' introductory press conference on Tuesday, a member of the Blazers' public relations team shut down a reporter's question regarding sexual assault allegations that Billups faced in 1997, just as Billups seemed ready to address the matter. No criminal charges were brought in the 1997 case, but Billups reached a financial settlement with a woman in 2000.
"The real issue with what happened yesterday was the handling of it from the Trail Blazers -- both the cutting off of the question and Chauncey leaning in to go to the microphone to speak to it," Heavy.com senior writer Sean Deveney told the Tiki and Tierney show on Wednesday. "I mean, he's a grown adult -- he can answer his own questions. And I also thought [Blazers GM] Neil Olshey didn't do him any favors either.
"By saying we had this investigation, somebody asked, 'Well, who did the investigation? What was the timeline?' 'Well, we're not telling you that, and we're not giving you any crumbs of information.' That makes it seem like there wasn't any investigation. That makes it seem like he's got something to hide. So, I thought really the Blazers bungled this badly, and really didn't do Chauncey any favors."
There's a growing belief that Blazers superstar guard Damian Lillard could soon want out of Portland, due to frustrations with the team's hiring of Billups and concerns on whether the franchise can truly build him a title contender.
The question is, are the Blazers actually open to the idea of trading Lillard, who signed a four-year, $176 million extension back in 2019 that runs through the 2024-25 season?
"You should be striking while the iron's hot right now. You've got leverage," Deveney said. "He's not demanded a trade, he's not gone public. A lot of the stuff that's come out has been sort of subtle and through the back door. It hasn't been an Anthony Davis situation from two years ago, where you're just absolutely dying to trade the guy because you have to. So, now that you're in that situation, you still have some leverage, and you also have a terrific draft coming up.
"So, you're in a position where, you can collect some real assets and start to rebuild going forward with something that's really valuable and a real chance at a star player. I don't think they're going to do that, though. I think until Lillard asks for a trade, they're not going to trade him..."
Lillard averaged a team-high 28.8 points and 7.5 assists during the truncated regular season. The 30-year-old also averaged 34.3 points and 10.2 assists in the Blazers' first-round playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets.
The entire NBA conversation between Deveney and Tiki and Tierney can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Tiki and Tierney Show on Twitter @TikiAndTierney and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.