{"id":110955,"date":"2024-12-07T07:30:30","date_gmt":"2024-12-07T12:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=110955"},"modified":"2024-12-07T05:48:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-07T10:48:20","slug":"ayton-trade-billups-callout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/07\/ayton-trade-billups-callout\/","title":{"rendered":"The Deandre Ayton Trade Looks More Likely After Billups Callout"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Portland suffered another massive 42-point loss, this time to the Utah Jazz on Friday. That led to a \u00a0callout of the team by head coach Chauncey Billups, which could lead to an <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/aytonde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Deandre Ayton<\/a> trade and another chapter in the Blazers rebuild.<\/p>\n<h2>The Deandre Ayton Trade Looks More Likely After Billups Callout<\/h2>\n<p>The Portland Trail Blazers have been a confusing team to gauge in the 2024-25 season. They have been excellent in specific games like their back-to-back wins against Minnesota. Additionally, they have suffered some ugly losses like a blowout against Memphis and this 42-point loss to Utah.<\/p>\n<p>While the Blazers are in a rebuild, they would benefit from competing better against the Western Conference&#8217;s worst team. Billups showed his displeasure about the game. The result led to a Billups callout, as he chose to pull Ayton after only two second-half minutes. The big man only scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in 17 minutes.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t like this spirit in the game&#8230; We&#8217;ve struggled with that. Without Donovan (Clingan) and Rob (Williams), those are our best rim protectors,&#8221; Billups <a  href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/fMLSxQTs1OI?si=wgtc2cRxZipUCEzL&amp;t=262\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a> after the game about Ayton and the Blazers&#8217; performances.\u00a0&#8220;We didn&#8217;t do a good job with that tonight, along with every other thing and aspect of the game.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Can\u2019t express how much Clingan and Rob impact winning more for Portland than DA does. Not trying to take a shot at DA either, he\u2019s played better lately but lack of impact defensively hurts this your team A LOT<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \ud83c\udd75\ud83c\udd7e\ud83c\udd81\ud83c\udd83\ud83c\udd77\ud83c\udd74\ud83c\udd75\ud83c\udd70\ud83c\udd7d\ud83c\udd82 \ud83c\udf99 (@503Blazerfans) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/503Blazerfans\/status\/1865262305149358541?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>The Time is Ticking on an Ayton Trade<\/h3>\n<p>Ayton has been a mixed bag for the Blazers. He is a talented big man with problems that could be huge for a developing team. He can be a ball-stopper, as he can score with his touch around the mid-range and the paint. Although a good rebounder, Deandre shies away from contact, leading to his low free-throw rate.<\/p>\n<p>With <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/clingdo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donovan Clingan<\/a> primed as the Blazers&#8217; long-term center, Ayton&#8217;s future in Portland looks set to end. The development path was for Clingan to ease himself into the league, but fully committing might be the best move.<\/p>\n<p>They have <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/williro04.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robert Williams III<\/a> as a backup center, but Blazers general manager Joe Cronin could make more moves. Pulling the trigger on an Ayton trade is a reasonable conclusion, but they might struggle to move him. He is not the most attractive big man in the league because of his lackluster production. At the same time, his contract might be too big for teams to trade for.<\/p>\n<p>Despite those potential roadblocks, Cronin&#8217;s best decision is probably dealing Ayton away. He could get in the way of Clingan&#8217;s development, who is a legitimate stud at the center position. His defensive activity and seamless fit in the offense make him a building block for Portland. With Billups&#8217; distrust of Ayton and the growing fan sentiment, D.A. might be <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/26\/top-ayton-trade-destinations\/\" target=\"_self\">on his way out<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Blazers are a G League team with all due respect. Losing by 42 on your home court and getting booed by your own fans is a new low <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YROmWjBABY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/YROmWjBABY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mark Jackson\u2019s Burner (@casualtakeking) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/casualtakeking\/status\/1865280229649834321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>The Fans&#8217; Growing Dissatisfaction with Billups<\/h3>\n<p>Despite him doing the classic Billups callout, Portland&#8217;s fans are unhappy with his time coaching the Blazers. This is his fourth season in Rip City, and they have not improved despite the promising roster.<\/p>\n<p>The team has a team option for his fifth season, and it looks like they won&#8217;t pick that up. The 2024-25 season is still a long way from finishing, so there is a chance he could convince Portland to have him back. However, the past four seasons might be too much for the Blazers, as they <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/11\/blazers-best-head-coach-replacement-chauncey-billups\/\" target=\"_self\">could look for a new coach<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The fans and most analysts see Portland as having a problem, but that could change with a new coach. Moves like an Ayton trade could jumpstart that, as the Blazers rebuild continues. Rip City has promising players like Clingan, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sharpsh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shaedon Sharpe<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/camarto01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toumani Camara<\/a>, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hendesc01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scoot Henderson<\/a> to build around. Billups is a basketball legend, but his time coaching this team might end after this campaign. The former Finals MVP-turned-coach must deliver results, especially in a matchup against the West&#8217;s worst team, the Jazz.<\/p>\n<p>Portland is at a crossroads with its long-term plan. For plenty of Blazers fans, the decision is clear. The move should involve the Ayton trade and a new coach to boost the Blazers rebuild.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Portland suffered another massive 42-point loss, this time to the Utah Jazz on Friday. That led to a \u00a0callout of the team by head coach Chauncey Billups, which could lead to an Deandre Ayton trade and another chapter in the Blazers rebuild. The Deandre Ayton Trade Looks More Likely After Billups Callout The Portland Trail [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5385,"featured_media":110986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,23,4721],"tags":[115,1419,49145,4613],"class_list":["post-110955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-trailblazers","category-trade-rumors","tag-chauncey-billups","tag-deandre-ayton","tag-donovan-clingan","tag-robert-williams-iii"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5385"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110955"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110987,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110955\/revisions\/110987"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}