Blazers' Chauncey Billups sets record straight on Deni Avdija 'best player' comments

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Chauncey Billups and the Portland Trail Blazers did not see many changes to their roster this offseason as they continue to rebuild. However, the team did make one underrated move out of left field when they acquired forward Deni Avdija from the Washington Wizards hours before the start of the 2024 NBA Draft in June.

Avdija, who was selected ninth overall in 2020 by the Wizards, had been one of the league’s most improved players during the 2023-24 season. Aside from scoring, Avdija increased his overall shooting production, rebounding production, and ability to be a secondary playmaker on the perimeter. That is why many nodded in approval when the Blazers acquired the 23-year-old at the price of Malcolm Brogdon, the 14th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, a future first-round pick, and two second-round picks.

As training camps around the league began this past week, reports about Billups calling Avdija the team’s best players began to surface. Obviously, these comments lead to lots of social media discussions about Billups’ belief in the team, especially since key talents like Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton, and Anfernee Simons headlined the roster last year.

Ahead of his Hall of Fame induction on October 13, Billups took some time to set the record straight on his thoughts about Avdija, claiming that he never once called the new forward the Blazers’ best player.

“Yesterday, I was doing an interview on Sirius Radio in the morning with Sam Mitchell and another host, and they had said that,” Billups claimed regarding the unsourced comments about him calling Avdija Portland’s best player, according to Blazers reporter Aaron Fentress. “They were like, ‘Yeah, so we heard that you said Deni Avdija is your best player.’ I said, ‘I never said that. I don’t know where that came from.’ Deni is one of our better players; don’t get me wrong, but I never said he was our best player. I wouldn’t say that he’s our best player, but he’s a very valuable player to us.

“I am so excited to coach him. I don’t know where the hell that came from, though.”

Billups also made it clear that there have been multiple players during the early stages of training camp that he has pinpointed as the best on the team in a certain drill or aspect of play, which is where confusion and misquoting happened.

The bottom line regarding Billups and the Blazers is that this franchise is rebuilding. There isn’t necessarily a clear sense of direction right now, and the organization is simply approaching the 2024-25 season with the mindset of waiting to see what transpires with the group that they have assembled.

Portland does not have a bad-looking roster by any means, especially when you go down the list of talented players on their roster who could contribute on title-contending teams. At the same time, the Blazers are also not in any position to truly contend for a playoff spot after winning only 21 games a season ago.

As he enters his fourth season as the head coach of the team, Billups now faces even more pressure in Portland since he has never eclipsed 33 wins in a single season. After adding Avdija in the offseason and having another year to develop his young talents, Billups will surely be under the microscope from the Trail Blazers’ leadership over the course of the upcoming year.

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