Blazers interim coach could be their long-term answer

Tiago Splitter took over as coach of the Portland Trail Blazers after head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested Thursday and placed on leave. While Splitter's only the interim coach, there's a number of reasons why he could lead the Blazers long-term.

It's Splitter's first year as a Portland assistant after the Blazers hired him away from Paris Basketball in the summer, where he won the league title and the French Cup in his first year as head coach. While the Blazers have a number of assistant coaches with long NBA coaching careers, Splitter may have the highest potential.

Portland passed on more experienced coaches to pick Tiago Splitter

The obvious choice to succeed Billups on an interim basis would have been Nate Bjorkgren, a well-regarded assistant coach who spent time on the benches of the Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors. But Bjorkgren's one head-coaching job was a disaster.

Bjorkgren took over the Indiana Pacers in 2020-21, one season after they went 45-28 (.616), and led them to a disappointing 34-38 record (.472) during the COVID-shortened season. Not only did the team regress, especially on defense, but Bjorkgren reportedly clashed with players and staffers thanks to his "aggressive and abrasive style," which included a lot of screaming.

The micromanaging and intense style of Bjorkgren is great for an assistant coach, but an NBA head coach needs to be able to manage personalities. Assistant coach James Posey won two NBA titles as a player and one as a Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach, while Quinton Crawford got a ring as a Los Angeles Lakers assistant — and head coach of the G League Stockton Kings last season. But Splitter has more head-coaching experience than either.

Tiago Splitter has a strong coaching pedigree

The best endorsement for Splitter may be that he played for five seasons under legendary coach Gregg Popovich on the San Antonio Spurs, making the NBA Finals twice and winning it all in 2014. Former Popovich players and assistants are all over the NBA coaching ranks, including Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors, Mike Brown (New York Knicks), Will Hardy (Utah Jazz) and Ime Udoka (Houston Rockets).

When Splitter began coaching in 2018-19, he worked under reigning Coach of the Year Kenny Atkinson, who was a protege of Popovich protege Mike Budenholzer, and remained on staff through 2023, under former Popovich assistant Jacque Vaughn.

But Splitter's international success also bodes well for his coaching future. He won a gold medal coaching his native Brazil's U23 basketball team in 2022, then won in his lone season with Paris.

NBA teams have paid close attention to French basketball in recent years. Not only were Victor Wembanyama and Zaccharie Risacher No. 1 overall picks, but Splitter's predecessor from Paris, Tuomas Iisalo, became head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies at the end of last season.

The Grizzlies gave Iisalo a seven-figure salary to leave Paris, though they may not have anticipated him taking over the team quite so soon. The Blazers similarly hired Splitter away, perhaps with ideas he'd be their future head coach down the road.

Due to Billups' arrest, they've arrived down the road ahead of schedule. Splitter never thought he'd take over an NBA team quite this soon. Now that he has, he could be in charge for a while.