Micah Nori may have been the most overlooked move the Portland Trail Blazers made all summer.
A lot of the attention around his hire centered on the structure of the deal, especially the fact that it only guarantees him money for his first year. But the bigger story is the coach himself. Portland landed one of the league’s best assistants, and that deserves far more credit than it got.
The Blazers are walking into a tricky season as they try to fit Damian Lillard and Ja Morant into the same lineup. That’s not a small adjustment, and it’s exactly why Nori makes so much sense.
He’s built a reputation around shaping and maximizing offenses, and Portland now has a coach who has spent years doing that work at a high level. With Nori, Lillard, Morant, All-Star forward Deni Avdija and the rest of the roster, the Blazers could have one of the league’s best offenses next season.
What makes the hire even more interesting is the timing. Nori is stepping into a first-year head coaching job with a playoff team, which is a rare setup.
But he’s not walking in blind. Over the last five years, he’s built up a huge amount of postseason experience as the lead assistant for the Minnesota Timberwolves, coaching in 54 playoff games from 2022-26.
That kind of background should matter for a Portland team that doesn’t have a ton of playoff mileage beyond Lillard and Robert Williams III.
The Blazers also had to work through a demanding interview process before landing on Nori. New owner Tom Dundon’s view of what a head coach should cost shaped the search, and Portland was connected to a number of first-time head coaches who likely wouldn’t have been in the mix elsewhere. Nori was the exception among that group.
If Portland wants to stay in the mix in the Western Conference and build something that lasts, it needed a coach who could point the team in the right direction. Nori’s contract may only lock in the first year, but he knows what comes next if the job goes well. Success would keep him in place.
That’s what makes this such a strong move for the Blazers. It’s a team-friendly deal, and it gives Portland a proven coach with a track record of helping create a winning environment. There’s no promise it all translates cleanly in Portland, but the plan is clear, and the Blazers have a real shot to move forward with it.
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One Overlooked Blazers Youngster Suddenly Has A Real Opening
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For Sidy Cissoko, that setup creates a real opportunity. Now on a standard deal in his second season, he is in line for a much larger role than he had before, with the kind of second-unit responsibility that can quickly turn into steady minutes if he handles it well. Portland wants depth, versatility and perimeter defense from that group, and Cissoko suddenly looks like one of the young players best positioned to matter in it. [Read more 🡒]