Trail Blazers’ Tiago Splitter ‘just trying to be a pro’ with reports about Tom Dundon, coaching search swirling

Tom Dundon’s first month as Portland Trail Blazers owner hasn’t been subtle, to say the least. Reports have been rampant, some concerning the eyebrow-raising cost-cutting measures the 54-year-old Texas billionaire has taken to frugally run the Blazers — tactics reminiscent of how he slashed expenses after buying the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes in 2017 — and some have centered around his not-so-secret search for a new head coach.

It’s not often an NBA team is actively looking for a new head coach amid a run to the playoffs, but that’s reportedly the situation Dundon thrust his new franchise in.

NBA reporter Jake Fischer reported this week, according to ESPN, that Dundon had started speaking to 15-20 prospective candidates. That list reportedly included college coaches and NBA assistant coaches.

Meanwhile, the Blazers’ current head coach, interim Tiago Splitter, has Portland on the rise. Splitter, a former NBA center who stepped in for Chauncey Billups after the Basketball Hall of Famer was arrested in an FBI gambling probe, piloted the Blazers to a 42-40 record. Then he oversaw a play-in tournament win that clinched the No. 7 seed in a Western Conference crowded with contenders. Most recently, on Tuesday night, he watched as his group rallied for a 106-103 victory over the team that drafted him in 2007.

With a statement-making fourth quarter, Portland surged past a Victor Wembanyama-less San Antonio Spurs squad to tie the teams’ first-round playoff series 1-1.

“Just trying to be a pro,” Splitter told reporters pregame, per ESPN, regarding the outside noise surrounding his position.

“[I] try to focus on my locker room and my staff to stay and think about basketball. Same way when I got the job and all the stuff that was going on.”

Splitter, a Brazilian native, is now 41 year old. In his playing days, he helped the Spurs win an NBA championship in 2014. Since retiring in 2018, he’s waded his way into the coaching ranks. After catching on as a Brooklyn Nets pro scout with some on-court development responsibilities during the 2018-19 season, he served as assistant for the Nets from 2019-23 and then for the Houston Rockets from 2023-24.

In 2025, Splitter joined Billups’ staff. By the second game of the season, he had the keys to the team.

He took over with some head-coaching experience in his back pocket. Splitter spent the 2024-25 season at the helm of Paris Basketball Club, which he led to a French Basketball Cup championship and into the EuroLeague playoffs. Plus, Splitter was the head coach of Brazil’s under-23 men’s team that won a gold medal in 2022.

While in charge of the Blazers this season, sixth-year forward Deni Avdija blossomed into an All-Star. He averaged a career-high 24.2 points and 6.7 assists per game during the 2025-26 campaign, his second with the Blazers.

“He got thrown in a difficult situation,” Avdija, a finalist for NBA Most Improved Player, said postgame Tuesday night. “It wasn’t easy for him to just all of a sudden take the head job. But I think he’s done phenomenal.

“He’s getting the best out of everybody. He’s believing in each and [every] single one of his players, and we love playing for him. He’s a winner, he’s a competitor. He knows how it is to win a championship, and you can see it. He’s passionate, and he’s got all the tools to be a great coach, and that’s what he’s doing.”

Scoot Henderson is another player Splitter has believed in, despite the G League Ignite product and former 2023 No. 3 overall pick missing the first 51 games of the season while working his way back from a left hamstring injury.

Henderson scored a game-high, and season-high, 31 points Tuesday against the Spurs.

While acting as interim head coach, Splitter was given a raise from his assistant coaching salary, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, who reported Tuesday that Splitter discussed a longer-term contract during the season. The salary presented to him, though, was reportedly much lower than what’s considered standard for NBA head coaches.

Further contract talks were put off until after the season, per ESPN.

Earlier Tuesday, The Athletic’s Jason Quick put out a report that mentioned a few names Dundon had contacted in his search. Those reportedly included Saint Louis University head coach Josh Schertz, Iowa head coach Ben McCollum, former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone and former New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau.

That said, an anonymous team source reportedly told The Athletic that Splitter “is going to be the leading candidate.”

“Of all the things reported on Tom [Dundon], the one thing that is not true is the coaching thing, that he is trying to get someone for $1 million to $1.5 million,” an anonymous team source reportedly told The Athletic. “It’s just not true. He’s talked to everybody, and of course, some coaches he talks to would be less expensive than others. The goal is to find the best person.”