Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are facing major financial consequences amid the NBA’s ongoing betting scandal. According to insider Shams Charania, the league has officially decided to pull both of their salaries for the 2025-26 season, totaling more than $33.6 million combined.
“The NBA talked to all parties involved: the Heat, the Trail Blazers, other officials, and landed on the decision today to pull both Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups’ salaries,” said Shams on NBA Today. “It’s essentially an unpaid administrative leave. So that’s $26.6 million for Terry Rozier and $7 million for Chauncey Billups. Both will not be paid out this season.”
Rozier’s case will be handled differently from Billups’. While the Miami Heat guard’s salary will be placed in escrow pending the results of the FBI’s ongoing investigation, the Trail Blazers head coach’s salary will not.
“My understanding is that Terry Rozier’s salary will be placed in an escrow,” added Charania. “He’s going to receive it or not based on the outcome of the FBI’s charges. Billups’ salary, though, is not going to be placed in an escrow. I’m told they are going to fight the charges, and I’m told this process could take anywhere from six to twelve months.”
Rozier and Billups were thriving in their respective roles in the NBA, but they now stand to lose millions over their alleged involvement in illegal gambling schemes. While the NBA had initially cleared Rozier, the story took a dramatic turn this month when the FBI arrested both him and coach Billups. In the days that followed, ties to organized crime were uncovered, exposing a vast network of betting fraud.
For Rozier, the allegations involve feeding inside information to associates and manipulating his own performance to alter game outcomes. The 31-year-old guard was entering the final year of his contract and was set to become a free agent next summer. But with his salary now frozen, Rozier faces more than legal challenges. The situation has become so serious that the NBPA released a statement announcing its intent to challenge the league’s decision.
“While we are in agreement with the league that upholding the integrity of the game is of the utmost importance, their decision to place Terry on leave without pay is counter to the presumption of innocence and inconsistent with the terms of our Collective Bargaining Agreement,” said an NBPA spokesperson to Shams Charania. “We plan to challenge their decision via the proper channels.”
For Billups, the situation is even worse. Unlike Rozier, his $7 million salary is gone entirely, with no escrow protection. It remains unclear whether he will ever return to Portland’s sidelines. The former NBA point guard, hired as head coach in 2021, had ambitions of leading the Blazers back to prominence. Now, he could lose everything over accusations of rigging high-stakes poker games that allegedly defrauded victims of tens of millions of dollars.
With their careers and reputations hanging in the balance, Rozier and Billups now face a long legal battle that could reshape the conversation around gambling in the NBA. As the investigation unfolds, the league’s stance on player accountability and transparency will be tested like never before.
