Blazers Cut Head Coach Search to Three Finalists: Tiago Splitter, Jeff Van Gundy, Micah Nori
The Portland Trail Blazers’ head coaching search has narrowed to a final three. Per multiple reports, the finalists are Tiago Splitter, Jeff Van Gundy, and Micah Nori. All three interviews have happened. A decision is expected within the next week.
This is a meaningful list because it tells you what kind of team Portland thinks it is becoming. None of the three is a hot retread. None is the splashy hire some fans wanted. Each represents a coherent answer to a different version of the same question.
Tiago Splitter is the modernist. The former San Antonio big man has spent the last several years on Mike Brown’s staff and most recently on the Paris Basketball bench in EuroLeague. He is fluent in international concepts, plays through the elbow, and would lean into the Blazers’ young core of Scoot Henderson, Donovan Clingan, and Shaedon Sharpe. He is also the youngest of the three at 41.
Jeff Van Gundy is the proven name. He has not coached in the NBA since 2007, but he ran one of the best defenses of his era in Houston, and he has spent the better part of two decades in broadcast booths absorbing every offensive evolution in the league. He served as Tyronn Lue’s lead assistant in Los Angeles last season and ran the Clippers’ defense. If you want a culture reset and a defensive identity, Van Gundy is the safest pick on the list.
Micah Nori is the technician. He has been Chris Finch’s right hand in Minnesota for years and is widely respected around the league as one of the best Xs-and-Os assistants in the game. He took the interim job after Finch’s mid-season exit in late February and steadied the Wolves enough to keep them in the play-in conversation. He is the closest thing to a continuity candidate, since the Blazers will be picking from a similar offensive language.
The Blazers’ situation is complicated. Owner Tom Dundon’s recent cost-cutting wave around the front office and basketball operations made several around the league wonder whether Portland would chase a budget hire. The presence of Van Gundy on the final list suggests the budget is real but not bottom of the barrel. He will not coach for the minimum.
What the franchise actually needs is a coach who can decide what this team is. Scoot Henderson has shown flashes but has not put together a full season. Donovan Clingan is a top-five young center in the league and needs an offense built to feature him at the rim and on short rolls. Sharpe is the best half-court scorer on the roster and has the largest gap between his current play and his ceiling. They need development first, results second.
The smart bet is Splitter. He fits the timeline, he speaks the language Henderson and Clingan need, and his hire would generate goodwill with a front office that values player development above all else. Van Gundy would bring the headlines. Nori would bring the structure.
Whichever name Portland picks, the franchise is making a decision about what it wants to be over the next three years. The Blazers are not a quick fix away from the playoffs. They are a coach and a draft pick away from finally building an identity. Make the right call here, and that timeline gets shorter.
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.
