The Portland Trail Blazers have finally found a new coach, agreeing to a deal with Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, per ESPN.
The Blazers, under new owner Tom Dundon, did not re-sign Tiago Splitter after he was elevated to interim coach early in the year following Chauncey Billups's arrest in a federal gambling probe. Splitter, who led Portland to its first playoff appearance since the 2020-21 season, was later hired by the Chicago Bulls.
Portland pivoted to Nori, who is signing on under a unique contract that features only one guaranteed year, according to The Athletic. He'll coach out the 2026-27 season and the Blazers will have two team options for 2027-28 and 2028-29. The financial terms of the deal haven't been reported, but early reports in the process indicated that the Blazers were offering far below the typical market average for an NBA head coach amid Dundon's controversial approach to spending on his franchises.
As such, it was always expected that the Blazers would go the assistant route to fill their vacancy, as they were promising an opportunity to prove oneself as an NBA head coach, but were not willing to offer huge financial incentives or long-term stability. Nori taking that opportunity makes sense after being a finalist for numerous coaching jobs in recent years without ever being selected.
Nori's NBA coaching career began with the Raptors in 2009, with stops in Sacramento, Denver and Detroit before spending the past five years as the lead assistant with Chris Finch in Minnesota. Nori is perhaps best known for his phenomenal quotes during halftime interviews for Timberwolves games, but he's highly regarded as both a tactician and relationship-builder with his players.
Nori will take over a Blazers team that clearly possesses playoff-caliber talent and will be tasked with getting the most out of a group that's looking to take the next step after a first-round loss to the eventual Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs.
