Trail Blazers Narrow Head Coach Search to Three Finalists: Splitter, Nori, and Van Gundy
The Portland Trail Blazers are finally getting close to picking a head coach. Veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein dropped the names of the three finalists Thursday, and the list tells you a lot about what Portland wants.
The finalists are interim head coach Tiago Splitter, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, and Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy. All three would bring something different. All three would be a big swing for a team in transition.
Splitter has the inside track for obvious reasons. The 41-year-old former Spurs champion took over the Blazers in October after Chauncey Billups was placed on leave amid an arrest tied to an alleged illegal gambling scheme. Splitter then did the unthinkable. He led Portland to a 42-39 record and a playoff berth nobody saw coming.
That is the kind of audition that usually ends with a long-term contract. Splitter built a young team into a competitor on the fly, kept the locker room together through a chaotic situation, and developed Deni Avdija into a 2026 All-Star. That is a resume.
Nori is the rising name in the league. The 52-year-old has been Chris Finch’s lead assistant in Minnesota since 2021 and has interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs in recent cycles. He has a player-friendly reputation, defensive bona fides, and a personality that meshes well with younger groups. The Cavaliers seriously considered him during their last search, and several other teams have been kicking the tires for years.
Then there is Van Gundy. The 64-year-old former Knicks and Rockets head coach has been an assistant under Tyronn Lue with the Clippers since 2024. Van Gundy is the wild card. He has not been a head coach since 2007, but the league has changed, and his fingerprints are all over the Clippers defense.
For Portland, the choice comes down to whether you reward the guy who saved the season or roll the dice on a fresh perspective. Splitter is the comfort pick. Nori is the upside pick. Van Gundy is the credibility pick.
The Blazers have real talent to work with. Deni Avdija just made his first All-Star team. Donovan Clingan is a defensive anchor at center. Scoot Henderson is starting to look more like the prospect he was supposed to be. And Damian Lillard, who missed all of this season with a torn Achilles, returns next year as the franchise’s most beloved player.
The other variable is owner Tom Dundon. The new Blazers owner has been ruthless about cost-cutting since taking over, including layoffs that drew real criticism around the league. Whoever takes this job is going to be working with a tighter budget and a boss who wants results without writing checks.
Splitter probably wins this in the end. He earned the job, the players respond to him, and the front office has watched him work for six months. But Nori would be a good hire, and Van Gundy would be a fascinating one.
The Blazers are not the destination they used to be when Lillard was in his prime. They are still a team with a path forward, though. The right coach can move that timeline up by a year or two. The wrong one wastes Lillard’s last good window.
Expect the decision soon. Stein reported the field is “narrowing,” which usually means a hire is days away. Portland fans should have an answer before the NBA Finals tip.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
