1 New Year’s resolution for every team in 2024: Northwest Division

Trail Blazers Resolution: To move on from Chauncey Billups.

Portland needs… to move on from Chauncey Billups and hire a new head coach. In each of the last three seasons, Billups has arguably been a bottom-five head coach. He was unable to get much out of the previous iterations of the Blazers teams and has to own some responsibility for Scoot Henderson’s poor rookie campaign so far. In the Hoops Habit 2023-2024 NBA Coaches Tier List, Billups was labeled as one of the two worst head coaches in the league, alongside Charlotte Hornets’ coach, Steve Clifford.

Obviously a coaching record is not the be-all and end-all but Billups does carry a pathetic 69-126 (35.4% win rate) coaching record through three seasons with Portland. It is very likely that the Blazers will be adding another young top-five pick in this upcoming NBA draft and getting a new head coach in Portland for Henderson’s sophomore year to start building a winning culture may be more crucial than people realize.

There are some great coaches that might be looking for a a head coaching position this upcoming offseason such as Mike Budenholzer (last coached Milwaukee from 2018-2023), Kenny Atkinson (currently an assistant with Golden State), Dave Joerger (currently an assistant with Philadelphia), and David Adelman (currently an assistant with Denver).

Much like in the non-NBA world, not everyone will fulfill their resolutions and get what they need in order to better their situations. Regardless, others will thrive and get exactly what they need or even go above and beyond their expectations. Only time will tell how 2024 will treat these NBA teams in the Northwest Division.