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Billups takes the floor to coach the Trail Blazers for the first
time on Wednesday night when the Sacramento Kings visit
Portland.
It's great fortune to land your first coaching gig with one of
the top players in the NBA on the roster. But rumors ran rampant
most of the summer that Lillard has begun contemplating whether
he needs to leave Portland to have a chance at winning an NBA
title.
The six-time All-Star turned 31 in July and is well aware the
franchise took steps backward over the past two seasons after
topping 50 wins in three of the previous six seasons. His name
was frequently mentioned in trade speculation.
But, shortly before training camp, Lillard signaled that he was
all in for the 2021-22 season, which happens to be the first
season of a four-year, $176 million extension that he signed in
July 2019.
The Trail Blazers were a shaky defensive team under former coach
Terry Stotts and ranked 23rd in scoring defense last season
while allowing 114.3 points per game. Billups has vowed to have
the team improve in that area, and Lillard is on board.
"We are not far off. We are not far off at all," said Lillard,
who averaged 28.8 points last season. "It can look very bad,
like it's no progress, because all it takes is one thing to
(mess) it up. If one person is in this spot and the next person
doesn't do their part where they can help this person, it's a
breakdown. ...
"That's why we just have to get comfortable with it and get to
where everybody is trusting what the next person is going to
do."
The learning curve didn't equate to victories in the preseason
as Portland went 0-4 and lost by an average of 23.8 points.
Billups was surprised with some of the bumpy occurrences in the
preseason.
"Any time there's change, there's a period in there where it's
going to take some adjusting to," Billups said. "It was a little
bit up and down."
Sacramento experienced better results in the preseason by going
4-0 with an average winning margin of 11 points.
The Kings have gone 15 consecutive seasons without reaching the
playoffs, so coach Luke Walton isn't about to project an end to
the drought.
But he surely likes seeing progress.
"The regular season is a different beast," Walton told
reporters. "We'll continue to evaluate how our team is playing
and who is playing well together. ... We like what we've seen
out of our guys so far."
Sacramento also was a poor defensive club last season, ranking
28th while allowing 117.4 points per game. Walton said the goal
is to be a top-15 defense this season.
The Kings will again rely on point guard De'Aaron Fox, who
averaged a career-best 25.2 points last season. Entering his
fifth season, Fox feels like he has shed the reputation of being
more of an athlete than a shooter.
"I feel like, just as a person and as a player, my game has
matured a lot," Fox said. "Obviously (I am) still working on the
defensive side of the ball and still shooting the ball. But I
feel like I've come a long way from just coming in and running
fast."
The status of Kings big man Richaun Holmes (illness) isn't yet
firmed up. Meanwhile, Trail Blazers swingman Tony Snell (foot)
has been ruled out and could miss two more weeks after he
experienced what Billups termed "a small setback."
Portland won all three of last season's meetings.
--Field Level Media
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