The Blazers Can’t Afford to be Cheap

Now is not the time for the Trail Blazers to be cheap.

After just one regular season game, the Portland Trail Blazers had to make a change in leadership. Tiago Splitter was promoted to interim head coach after Chauncey Billups was fired due to legal troubles and coached the final 81 regular season games. Splitter led the team to a 42-39 record and their first playoff appearance since the 2020-2021 season. Splitter’s leadership was the catalyst for the franchise’s success amid the early season adversity. That seemed to be enough to remove the interim tag and name Splitter as full-time head coach.

On early Monday morning, news broke of Splitter’s agreement to become the next head coach of the Chicago Bulls. According to Joel Lorenzi, Jason Quick and Sam Amick of The Athletic, “Splitter was told he was welcome to return at a certain price point, which wasn’t agreeable to Splitter and his agent, Andy Miller. That prompted the Blazers to open a search.”

According to Evan Sidery, “New Blazers owner Tom Dundon’s treatment of Tiago Splitter, lowballing him and interviewing replacements during the playoffs, left a bad impression on many NBA coaches.”

This is a major concern for the Blazers organization. Portland is already not a market that attracts high profile free agents and coaches, so gaining the reputation of lowballing coaches, especially your own successful interim cosch, is problematic. Is Dundon going to lowball upcoming free agents Robert Williams III and Matisse Thybulle as well?

The Carolina Hurricanes, Dundon’s other franchise, won the Stanley Cup on Friday night. Dundon is expected to resume the Blazers coaching search following the championship, according to the Athletic story cited above. Two of the Blazers reported finalists remain with only the Dallas Mavericks still looking for a head coach. Will Portland focus their attention on Timberwolves lead assistant Micah Nori, Celtics assistant Tyler Lashbrook, or will they reopen their coaching search?

“Celtics assistant Tyler Lashbrook is viewed as the potential leading candidate to become the Trail Blazers’ next head coach,” Sidery reports. “Lashbrook rapidly moved up the ranks in Boston since being hired in 2023. If hired, Lashbrook would become the NBA’s youngest head coach at 34 years old.”

The news of Splitter’s departure for Chicago is concerning, but there are still two high quality finalists still available. The Blazers must prove that they are willing to spend the money to become a serious contender in the Western Conference.