The Portland Trail Blazers have had an up-and-down season, reflected by their 32-35 record accompanied by long streaks of losing, winning, and inconsistent play. Nowhere has their been more need for steadiness in the storm that among the coaching staff, who dealt with the arrest and departure of suspended Head Coach Chauncey Billups after the first game of the season, then rallied around Interim Head Coach Tiago Splitter for the balance.
The future of those two coaches remains in limbo, in part due to legal proceedings, also due to a new owner taking over the franchise this spring. Billups’ personal future is undetermined. Splitter is simply serving out the season.
One of the hotter topics among Blazers fans as the 2025-26 campaign comes to a close is who might be the next coach of the team. Could Splitter be brought on as the permanent coach? Will new owner Tom Dundon go for a splashy name instead? A grizzled veteran? A young wiz-kid?
Over staff dinner at Blazer’s Edge Night, the BE staff discussed some of these things, but an interesting side-debate broke out that we’ll now let you in on. In the midst of the conversation, someone piped up with, “If you had to get a former Portland coach to lead this team now, which one would you choose?” With all due respect to the greats of yore, we limited the conversation to those who could still serve actively today, making it a slightly more serious question than purely theoretical. If you could place a call today and ask a former Blazers coach to take over this team next year, which coach would you call? (P.S. Sticking with Splitter is a valid choice here.)
We’re opening the question to you today. Name your coach and your reasoning in the comments section!
See More:
* [Blazers Gameday Coverage](/gameday-coverage)
* [Portland Trail Blazers Discussion](/trail-blazers-discussion-game-threads)