In what may be the coldest take of the 2024-25 NBA season, former Portland Tribune and Oregonian Blazers beat reporter and current independent writer Kerry Eggers doesn’t believe the Portland Trail Blazers have built a winning club:
“For the uninitiated members of the Fourth Estate, Monday’s press-conference verbiage might have been confusing. The players talked about winning games — lots of games — this season… Even if the Blazers didn’t have intentions to tank, they wouldn’t be good enough to escape the lottery.”
True enough, and clear to anyone with even a passing interest in the Blazers. Eggers also had commentary about head coach Chauncey Billups’ somewhat tenuous position at the helm:
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“In his fourth season at the Blazer helm, Coach Chauncey Billups is between a rock and a hard place. Billups is entering the final guaranteed year of a contract he signed in 2021. The Blazers haven’t picked up a team option, meaning Billups is in a lame-duck situation. Do Cronin and owner Jody Allen regard him as the team’s coach of the future?… or are they being cheap as they await the hiring of Billups’ successor after the 2024-25 season?”
Nobody asked me, and feel free to disagree… but I think it’s the latter.
Eggers also goes into Scoot Henderson’s role with the team for his second year
“Henderson gave a brief response when I asked him how important it was to him to be a starter.
“That’s not my decision to make,” the 6-3 point guard said. “I will control what I can. That’s practicing, playing my game, having fun.”
But it is clear that Henderson intends to make his presence felt after a rookie season in which he averaged 14.0 points and 5.4 assists but shot only .385 from the field and .325 from 3-point range.”
In the moment, Henderson seemed to consider answering the question before thinking better of it and giving a diplomatic non-answer:
