<p>If Chauncey Billups had been more like “Dr. Jack” Ramsay and less like Tony “The Ant” Spilotro, we wouldn’t even be talking about Tiago Splitter. That much is certain.</p><p>But Billups blew up his life, Splitter grabbed the controls as interim coach of the Trail Blazers only one game into the 2025-26 season, the team proceeded to weather various storms and exceed all expectations and, well, here we are.