Pablo Torre Went Through The FBI's Indictment And Things DO NOT Look Great For Chauncey Billups

Steph Chambers. Getty Images.

After the initial bombshell dropped this morning that both Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups were being arrested by the FBI in a gigantic gambling ring, the details of everything are now starting to come out. 

Initially, when it came to Billups' role in all this, the majority of the stuff being reported was around his alleged involvement in these shady poker games. 

As it turns out, it could potentially be much, much worse. Take it away Pablo!

Now, just to make sure my own ass is covered, let me say this one more time as clearly as possible

ALL OF THIS IS ALLEGED

OK, now with that out of the way, let's talk about what Pablo uncovered. I have to say, knowing Pablo Torre is on the case would have me shaking in my boots a little bit, especially considering what a heater he's been on recently. 

In terms of what he found, ruh roh. I'm a little surprised this little nugget seemed to be ignored in the presser and all of the initial reporting didn't really mention this, because uh….it's a BIG TIME deal if true. An NBA coach tipping people off that a certain player is not playing and their intention is to lose on purpose is about as close to a worst case scenario as the NBA could have. For all the talk about the integrity of their league and everything being on the level, this would pretty much be the exact opposite. 

Now, let's look at that March 24th game back in 2023. How'd that game end up?

And what did the Blazers roster look like that night?

Back in March 2023, who would most consider to be some of the Blazers' "best players"? I'd say guys like Damian Lillard, Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe would be what most people would say at that time. 

So who could this "Player 1" be? While we don't know for sure, is it fair to assume there's a strong chance that player is Damian Lillard? Just look at his gamelog from that season

Simons had been shut down on 3/22 for the year. Grant's last game came on 3/14. Sharpe as you can see above, played in that 3/24 game. So who else could Player 1 be other than Dame? He played on 3/22, was suddenly shut down prior to the 3/24 game, and once you pair that with the information from the indictment, I can't say that looks all that great for Billups. 

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You'll then remember, the Blazers ended up with the #3 pick in the 2023 Draft, taking Scoot Henderson. A player who at the time, most considered one of the surest prospects in the Draft. It was clear at the time what the Blazers were doing to end that season, which isn't all that different from any other lottery bound team hoping to land a generational pick. Everyone tanks. That's not the issue. The issue is what Billups allegedly may have been doing while the team was tanking. Even if it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that the Blazers were about to fully commit to the tank at that stage of the season, I'm not sure that matters. It still doesn't change the fact that an NBA coach was allegedly revealing information that was not available to the public.

I'm not sure if leaving this little tidbit out when all this first broke was intentional or what, but you can certainly understand why the NBA might not want this getting out. It's a tad different situation than Billups only being involved some sort of shady poker game shenanigans if this actually winds up being true. 

Obviously, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Now that this is all coming to light, there will naturally be more that surfaces. If this all ends up being true? It's arguably one of the biggest scandals in league history. Move over Kawhi and your fugazi no show job, we're on to something bigger.