It has been a very long two weeks for the Trail Blazers, whose positive vibes—finally restored during a summer full of national headlines and moves expected to vault them back into relevancy—blew away in the wind after one game.

Gone were thoughts of Damian Lillard’s prodigal return, the team’s sale to a group that had promised to keep it in Portland, and rookie center Yang Hansen and his translator doing high-level comedic bits as he acclimated to American culture.

Following a season-opening home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 22, fans and Blazers players alike awoke to the story that would transcend all of that for at least the rest of this season: The team’s head coach, Chauncey Billups, had been arrested by FBI agents and was listed as the banner name in a gambling scanda

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