Chauncey Billups has clearly aged and many wonder if he will go the Derek Fisher route by going straight into coaching now.
There’s speculation surrounding the Detroit Pistons veteran point guard on if he will retire or not. Billups was asked about it in Colorado during his skills camp.
“It’s been very frustrating. But as we know, Father Time is undefeated. He’s undefeated. But I can’t be too frustrated, I got a lot of miles and a lot of use out of my body,” Billups said, via 9News.
Sources say Billups’ future likely relies on what the Pistons decide to do with his contract this summer. The 36-year-old has a team option for the 2014-15 season valued at $2.5 million.
If the Pistons pick it up, he’ll likely stay. Detroit hasn’t made a decision yet, but they plan to following Thursday’s NBA Draft.
“We’ve talked, but we won’t make decisions until after the draft because certainly those guys are all in play if trades materialize on draft night,” Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy said regarding Billups, Josh Harrellson and Peyton Siva. “We haven’t gotten down to a definitive meeting on any of those guys because we’ve been spending more time on the draft and on getting ready for free agency next week.”
Expect Billups to call it quits if the option isn’t picked up. If it happens, he will likely head into coaching or he will find a front office role with an NBA team.
Billups, a 16-year veteran and NBA champion, has averaged 15.2 points and 5.4 assists per game for his career.