The Portland Trail Blazers are seeking a new head coach for the 2026-27 season, with a budget cap of $1.5 million annually. This limits their options to first-time head coaches or lesser-known candidates.
Key points
Portland Trail Blazers need a head coach for 2026-27
New owner Tom Dundon limits coaching budget to $1.5 million
Chauncey Billups is no longer head coach due to a gambling scandal
Tiago Splitter led the team to a 42-win season as interim coach
Dundon's past hiring strategy involved low-cost first-time coaches
Mentioned in this story
Tom DundonChauncey BillupsTiago SplitterRajon RondoRod Brind'Amour
With Chauncey Billups no longer at the helm in Portland following his involvement in the NBA's gambling scandal, Tiago Splitter led the Blazers to a 42-win season and No. 7 seed behind Deni Avdija's emergence, veterans like Jrue Holiday and Jermani Grant, and more young talent. However, with Splitter remaining on the interim tag, NBA insider Jake Fischer previously reported that Dundon doesn't want to pay "more than $1.5 million annually" for a new coach, which is far below the average for an NBA head coach and around the range for other top assistants.
If that is the case, and Portland is only going to spend up to $1.5 million on a coach, the realistic search is expected to be limited. Chances are, no previous NBA head coaches (Tom Thibodeau, Mike Budenholzer), big-name college coaches (Todd Golden, Nate Oats), or even very well-regarded NBA assistants like Sean Sweeney, Chris Quinn, or Micah Nori would be willing to take a pay cut to join the Trail Blazers.
Q&A
Who are the top coaching candidates for the Trail Blazers in 2026-27?
The top candidates include Rajon Rondo and Tiago Splitter, among others who fit a lower budget.
Why is the Trail Blazers' coaching budget set at $1.5 million?
New owner Tom Dundon reportedly does not plan to heavily invest in a new coach, aiming for a cost-effective solution.
What happened to Chauncey Billups as the Trail Blazers' head coach?
Chauncey Billups was removed from his position due to his involvement in the NBA's gambling scandal.
What coaching strategy did Tom Dundon use in the NHL that might influence the Blazers?
Dundon previously hired Rod Brind'Amour as a first-time head coach at a low salary, which may inform his approach with the Blazers.
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If the Trail Blazers are going to stay "cheap" at head coach, they'll likely need to eye a first-time head coach who isn't already established as a strong voice in the NBA. When Dundon was leading the NHL's Hurricanes, that's exactly what he did by hiring Rod Brind'Amour in 2018, with the coach being paid a league-low $600,000 a year initially, per North Carolina Sports Network. He was later given a raise â still not among the top NHL coaches â as Carolina found consistent success.
On the court, the Trail Blazers' vacancy has the potential to be a good job â there are reasons to be encouraged about Portland's future. But finding the right voice to lead those players will be key.
Here are eight potential "cheap" names the Trail Blazers could target in their head coaching search.
A former NBA center, now-Rockets assistant Ben Sullivan has plenty of coaching experience under some of the league's biggest names and also has connections to the Portland area.
Sullivan played basketball at the University of Portland from 2004-07, then became the program's director of basketball technology before his coaching career began.
In 2012, he became a video intern with the Spurs alongside assistant Ime Udoka, with whom he has worked heavily in his assistant coaching career. After working his way into player development in San Antonio, Sullivan was an assistant under Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta from 2014-18, an assistant under Budenholzer in Milwaukee from 2018-21, then an assistant under Udoka in both Boston (2021-23) and Houston (2023-present).
Considering all his background around the Gregg Popovich disciples and status as a coach who has heavily worked with players in shooting, he could be a good fit for a Blazers team that ranked fifth in the NBA in 2025-26 three-point attempts per game (35.0) but 15th in 3-point percentage (35.8%).
One of the more notable retired players who has excelled in an assistant coaching role recently is former journeyman forward Jared Dudley, who became a Mavericks assistant in 2021 following his retirement but joined the Nuggets' staff in 2025.
Dudley's NBA experience and locker room experience is what could be valuable for Portland. He was one of the more well-regarded teammates in the league over his 14-year playing career, with the personality to lead a group as a coach as well.
Whether Dudley would be willing to take a likely pay cut to become Portland's head coach is questionable, but the job would give him an early opportunity to fast-track his coaching career a bit, becoming an NBA head coach by his sixth year coaching.
Plucking assistants from annually elite teams is often a strategy teams will take, no matter the league â and it certainly wouldn't be a bad idea for the Trail Blazers to try to emulate the Boston Celtics, although their roster construction is far different.
Longtime NBA assistant and former point guard Sam Cassell may have a higher asking price to leave Boston, but one Celtics coach who may not be too expensive is Tony Dobbins.
After playing basketball at Virginia Tech and Richmond, Dobbins was named a Defensive Player of the Year multiple times while playing in France â he's followed his playing career by first becoming a member of the Celtics' video room, then being promoted to assistant coach in 2020. Under Joe Mazzulla, Dobbins' responsibilities have only grown, including coaching Boston's summer league squad.
While Dobbins would be more of a shot-in-the-dark for the Trail Blazers, he could bring some of the Celtics' philosophies with him â DJ MacLeay is another Boston assistant worth mentioning.
An NBA assistant since 2014, Johnnie Bryant is a name that has increasingly popped up in coaching searches, but he hasn't yet landed one.
After playing point guard for Utah in college, Bryant became an NBA coach in 2012, a player development assistant for the Jazz. He was promoted to assistant coach in 2014 under Quin Snyder.
Bryant spent the 2020-24 seasons with the Knicks as the associate head coach, and he took on the same role with the Cavaliers in 2024. Still in Cleveland, Bryant has interviewed for head coaching jobs with the Cavaliers and Suns.
There's another notable connection between Bryant and the Trail Blazers â the coach previously worked with franchise star Damian Lillard while at his "Bryant Sports Academy," a skill development program he ran before becoming an NBA head coach. Lillard is set to return to the Blazers from injury in 2026-27 as the leader of the squad.
Similar to the Celtics' success, it's only a matter of time before teams try to start taking players off Mark Daigneaultâs staffs with the Thunder. Oklahoma City has become the class of the league â if teams are going to try to chase their success, it may come by hiring Daigneaultâs top assistants.
One of those options is Dave Bliss â not to be confused with the former college men's coach at Oklahoma, Baylor and more. The Thunder coach played basketball at Georgia, spent time as a volunteer assistant at Georgia and a graduate assistant at VCU, then was hired by Sam Presti to join the Thunder as a video analyst and player development assistant from 2010-15.
Bliss was the Knicks' player development coach from 2015-18, then returned to Oklahoma City in 2018 to be a senior player development coach; since 2019, he's been an assistant coach. When Daigneault stepped away from the team for the birth of his child in 2021, it was Bliss who was the Thunder's interim head coach.
It's no guarantee Bliss or Mike Wilks could replicate any level of Oklahoma City's success, but for a cheaper head coaching option, it could be worth the swing for Dundon.
At just 36 years old, Lamar Skeeter has become a rising coach in the Charlotte Hornets' ranks â he's helped lead the franchise's turnaround under Charles Lee.
While he may not be as big a name as other NBA assistants like Sweeney in San Antonio or Quinn in Miami, that could financially work in Portland's favor. Skeeter began his coaching career as an assistant for the G League's Canton Charge, was hired as a player development coach and video intern for the Hawks in 2013, spent 10 years with the Jazz as a player development coach and assistant coach, and was brought onto Lee's Hornets staff in 2024.
In Charlotte, Skeeter has been a member of the staff that helped guide LaMelo Ball and a young core to a 25-win turnaround in 2025-26. If Dundon wants to take a shot on a rising coach before he gets priced out, Skeeter could be a good option.
Perhaps Rajon Rondo and his $115.8 million in career earnings, per Spotrac, wouldn't be willing to become an NBA head coach for under $1.5 million per season. But as a former elite point guard who has been speculated as a future coach for years, Dundon could offer him a bit of a deal: make a direct jump to NBA head coach in exchange for a bit of a pay cut.
Rondo, 40, put up over 7,500 assists in his 16-year playing career, one of the best minds the game has ever seen on the floor â which is why many across the league have thought he would make a great coach.
Rondo is known to have some interest in coaching as well. On Apr. 26, Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported that Rondo is one candidate in the Pelicans' head coaching search. And before the 2024-25 season, he joined his former coach, Doc Rivers, to be a guest coach at the Bucks' training camp, with Rivers saying that his former point guard was considering a future in the profession. However, Rondo has remained in retirement since then.
The Blazers have a projected guard-heavy rotation in 2026-27 with Lillard, Holiday, Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe likely to receive minutes, on top of Avdija's breakout playmaking skills. Under Rondo, Portland could establish itself as the kind of team that will always make the extra pass â the roster is in place for that, and Rondo would be a fantastic voice for it.
Considering Rondo has yet to step on an NBA floor as a coach and may not cost too much, it's a call Dundon should at least try making.
1. Tiago Splitter
As many Trail Blazers fans and NBA media members have already suggested, there's a good chance that nobody who walks through the door may be a better fit to lead the Trail Blazers than the man who already has been for months.
Splitter has yet to have his interim tag removed, but has been considered as a candidate for the full-time role. One of the biggest problems may be his pay â with Dundon reportedly looking to spend under $1.5 million per year on a coach, someone with Splitter's growing resume (NBA title as a player, national experience, Nets and Rockets assistant, 42-win season as interim Blazers head coach) could easily drive above that number.
But if there's some financial compromise to be made between Splitter and the Trail Blazers, it's already proven to be a good fit. Portland had a six-win improvement and made the playoffs again in 2025-26 under Splitter, and the future should be a bit brighter moving forward.
According to The Athletic's Jason Quick, Dundon has conducted a "phone-book's worth" of interviews for the Blazers' vacancy, virtually making it plain and obvious that he will consider replacing Splitter, who was also reportedly offered "a modest raise from his current salary of $850,000 as interim."
Splitter deserves his credit as a coach, but Dundon is clearly willing to cut ties if it saves him a buck. If there's some kind of middle ground, however, Portland is better off taking more of a sure thing than making another regime change after a fairly successful season.
