Blazers Narrow Head Coach Search to 3 Finalists: Tiago Splitter, Jeff Van Gundy, and Micah Nori
The Portland Trail Blazers have narrowed their head coaching search down to three names, and the trio is fascinating because each candidate represents a completely different path forward for the franchise.
Tiago Splitter, Jeff Van Gundy, and Micah Nori are the finalists, per multiple reports. The Blazers need a long-term answer after Chauncey Billups was arrested on federal charges in October and the franchise was forced to pivot midseason.
Tiago Splitter is the insider
Splitter, 41, was the interim head coach last season and pushed Portland to a 42-39 record and a playoff berth. That is not nothing. The Blazers were not supposed to compete in the West last year, and Splitter coaxed a real season out of a roster that was supposed to be in development mode.
If the front office values continuity and rewarding the guy who steadied the ship after a crisis, Splitter is the easy answer. He already has the locker room. He already has Shaedon Sharpe’s trust. The team played hard for him.
Jeff Van Gundy is the rebuild-from-the-defense answer
Van Gundy, 64, has not been an NBA head coach since 2007. That is almost two decades. But he has been an exceptional top assistant for the Clippers under Tyronn Lue since 2024, and his prior head coaching career produced a 430-318 record with two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals and a Finals appearance with the Knicks in 1999.
If the Blazers want a defensive philosophy implanted immediately, Van Gundy gives them that. He also gives them the kind of veteran voice that can hold a young roster accountable. The trade-off is age and the question of whether his style still translates to the modern NBA.
Micah Nori is the up-and-comer
Nori has been a top assistant in this league for almost two decades. Toronto from 2009 to 2013. Sacramento from 2013 to 2015. Denver from 2015 to 2018. Detroit from 2018 to 2021. And he has been the Timberwolves’ top lieutenant since 2021, helping Chris Finch build one of the most disciplined teams in the West.
Nori is the candidate who feels like a future star head coach. He has done every job in the league. He has been part of championship-caliber staffs. The only question with Nori is whether you want a first-timer in a fragile situation.
What the Blazers actually need
This roster has talent. Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, Donovan Clingan, and a couple of veterans who could be moved in the right deal. The new head coach is walking into a job where the foundation is real but the direction is not yet set.
That’s why this hire matters more than it would for a team in pure rebuild. Whoever takes the chair gets to decide if this team is built around defense, around pace, around Sharpe as the primary scorer, or around something else entirely.
The case for each
Splitter wins if Portland trusts the locker room and likes what happened last season. Van Gundy wins if ownership wants veteran credibility and a hard cultural reset. Nori wins if the front office is comfortable betting on a young coach who has paid every possible due along the way.
All three are real candidates. There’s no joke pick in this group.
The bottom line
The Blazers had a brutal offseason scenario forced on them by circumstance, and the front office has handled it deliberately. The fact that they’re down to three serious names instead of leaking 15 candidates says they have a clear idea of what kind of coach they want.
Pick the right one, and Portland goes from a curiosity to a team worth watching. Pick wrong, and this becomes another lost cycle for a franchise that can’t afford it.
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.
