Portland Trail Blazers Hire Micah Nori as Next Head Coach

The Portland Trail Blazers have their guy. 

After a wide-ranging search that included an extremely diverse cast of candidates — including their own interim head coach, Tiago Splitter, who departed for the Chicago Bulls — the Blazers have become the final team to find their sideline patroller. 

Per ESPN's Shams Charania, Portland is hiring Minnesota Timberwolves lead assistant Micah Nori to be the franchise's next head coach. 

Nori, 52, has interviewed for several vacancies over the last two years, including with the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons in 2024. He emerged as a finalist for the New York Knicks' opening last summer before the job eventually went to Mike Brown. 

Chris Finch's lead assistant in Minnesota has been a member of NBA sidelines dating back to 2009 and boasts stops with the Toronto Raptors, Sacramento Kings, Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons before being brought to the Timberwolves. 

Other candidates throughout the last month have included Nori, Splitter, LA Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy, Boston Celtics assistant Tyler Lashbrook and New York Knicks assistant Chris Jent. 

The Blazers' vacancy was the subject of discourse since their season ended at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs due to reports of the opening being unattractive. 

Portland's owner Tom Dundon reportedly was against the idea of paying his head coach more than $1.5 million per year and seemingly wanted to delay the decision until his other professional sports franchise, the Carolina Hurricanes, concluded their run in the Stanley Cup Final. 

Once Carolina defeated the Las Vegas Knights, a hire seemed imminent. Nori becomes the lead man nine days after the Hurricanes emerge victorious. 

Nori will be in charge of bringing the Blazers' young core into the next tier of Western Conference competitors. Equipped with up-and-comers Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan next to established veterans Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday, Nori has the personnel to build on the success Rip City experienced this past season. 

With Portland looking to reload through either big-time trades or free agent signings this summer, look out for Nori to explore adding some familiar faces from his time in Minnesota if the Timberwolves continue to shake things up around Anthony Edwards. 

Now that the head coaching search is over, the Blazers can fully turn their focus toward talent acquisition. Portland had been after Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jaylen Brown before Nori's hiring, and while the former has already been dealt to the Miami Heat, the latter's future remains uncertain. 

Regardless of the big fish the Blazers opt to chase, they now have their leader in Nori.