Doris Burke on Tiago Splitter's Blazers future after 42-40 season
Tiago Splitter said he wants to stay with the Portland Trail Blazers, and he said the talk around his future has grown louder after the season ended. The interim coach addressed the matter during his Thursday exit interview as the team enters an offseason without a permanent head coach.
“I've told you guys I want to stay,” Splitter said. He added, “There's a lot of talking right now, and I think some of them are exaggerations, clickbait and stuff like that. I have a good relationship with Tom, with Joe. We just need some time, now.”
Splitter and Tom Dundon
Splitter said he understands the timing around the Blazers’ new ownership. Tom Dundon’s purchase of the Portland Trail Blazers was approved in late March, and Splitter said, “And I understand. It's a new owner. He's trying to figure out us as well, learn what we do, what we do wrong and good, and I guess he needs some time as part of it.”
The friction point sits inside the broader coaching decision. On April 21, Jason Quick reported that Splitter had recently expressed frustration with Dundon, with complaints tied to cost-cutting measures that affected the availability of the team’s masseuse. Splitter also said during the series that he had told his team to avoid social media and was trying to just focus on basketball.
Portland's coaching search
The Blazers’ search has already widened beyond Splitter. Earlier this month, Jake Fischer reported that Portland had held contract talks with Splitter and spoken with at least 15 other candidates for the head coaching job, including Tom Thibodeau, Michael Malone, Josh Schertz and Ben McCollum. That leaves Dundon and general manager Joe Cronin with the decision over whether the interim coach stays in place or the franchise moves in a different direction.
Splitter’s case rests on the season he just finished. He took over in October in place of Chauncey Billups and led Portland to a 42-40 record and its first playoff berth in five years.
Game 5 and the roster
The Blazers were eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5, but Matisse Thybulle, Jrue Holiday and Donovan Clingan praised Splitter afterward. Thybulle said Splitter was “thrown a job that was not originally planned,” and that he handled a roster that “did not get stable until the last couple games of the season.”
That praise matters because Portland could now enter next season with Damian Lillard potentially joining a young core led by Deni Avdija, while the coaching decision remains unresolved. Splitter has made his preference clear; the next move belongs to Dundon and Cronin as they sort through a crowded search and a roster that just reached the postseason for the first time in five years.
