Tiago Splitter is the new head coach of the Chicago Bulls. He got the job after going 42-40 with the Trail Blazers as the interim, winning a playoff game in Portland for the first time since 1997, and outcoaching most people expected. The Blazers could have kept him. They chose not to. Or rather, they chose to lowball him on a new deal and let him walk.
Splitter walked. When asked about why, he had what we will charitably call a cryptic answer.
“Sometimes opportunities present themselves and you have to make the best decision for you and your family,” Splitter said. “I am grateful for everything Portland gave me. I am excited about what Chicago can become.”
Read between the lines. He is not torching the Blazers in public. He is not naming Tom Dundon. He is not complaining about money. He is just saying that another team offered him something better and he took it. That tells you everything you need to know about how the negotiations went.
Splitter is a smart guy. He coached the Brazilian national team. He has been an assistant on multiple staffs. He knew exactly what the Bulls were offering and he knew exactly what Portland was offering. He chose Chicago. In a vacuum, you would think Portland was the better job. The Blazers have more young talent. They have draft picks. They have a clearer path to building something. The Bulls have a roster that is stuck in the middle and an aging core.
The fact that Splitter chose Chicago over Portland is the loudest possible commentary on how the Blazers are being run right now. He took the job that pays him properly and treats him like a real head coach. He passed on the one year, prove it deal Dundon was offering.
The Bulls did a good thing here. Splitter is going to be a real NBA coach. He played for Gregg Popovich. He won a title with the Spurs in 2014. He understands defense, ball movement, and how to develop young players. Coby White, Matas Buzelis, Patrick Williams, and Josh Giddey have a coach who knows what he is doing now. If Chicago gets a top pick this draft, Splitter can take that piece and start building something real.
The Bulls have not had a coach who actually understands modern NBA basketball in a long time. Billy Donovan was solid but the front office never gave him a real roster. Splitter walks in with a roster that is at least interesting. He will not have All Star talent on day one, but he has guys with upside.
For the Blazers, this stings. Splitter is the guy who steadied the franchise after the Chauncey Billups gambling indictment threw everything into chaos. He kept the players engaged, kept the season alive, and gave the fans something to root for in the playoffs. He earned a real contract. Portland declined to pay it.
Splitter’s cryptic answer is going to be looked back on as the start of the Dundon era in Portland. Every coach the Blazers try to hire from now on is going to look at how Splitter was treated and ask whether they want to be next.
That is the price of cheap.
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.
