Trail Blazers hiring Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori as next head coach, reportedly on 1-year deal with team options

The Portland Trail Blazers are hiring Minnesota Timberwolves lead assistant Micah Nori as their next head coach, the organization announced on Tuesday.

Nori has signed a one-year deal with team options for each of the next two seasons, per The Athletic’s Jason Quick.

Portland is the last franchise to fill its head-coaching vacancy this cycle. Embattled new ownerTom Dundon and general manager Joe Cronin have their replacement for former interim head coach Tiago Splitter, who landed the Chicago Bulls’ head-coaching job last week.

Nori, 52, has served as the right-hand man for Timberwolves’ head coach Chris Finch since 2021. A longtime assistant, Nori’s been on NBA benches since the late 2000s . He held assistant gigs with the Toronto Raptors (2009-13), Sacramento Kings (2013-15), Denver Nuggets (2015-18) and Detroit Pistons (2018-21) before working under Finch in Minnesota the past five seasons.

During that span, the Timberwolves returned to relevance, making the playoffs each go-around. They reached the Western Conference finals for the first time in 20 years and then made it back to that very spot the following season. Minnesota’s won at least one playoff series three straight seasons. For reference, prior to Finch’s regime, the Wolves had advanced past the first round just once, and that was during the team’s first run to the Western Conference finals in 2003-04. Along the way, Finch clearly trusted Nori to help him pull off that franchise revival.

“He is elite in what I call the small pieces of the game,” Finch said, according to The Athletic. “Small not that they are unimportant, but small in that they are often overlooked. He’s elite with lineup combinations. Elite with rotations. Elite with special situations, whether it’s ATOs (after timeouts), end of game or just understanding how to maximize possessions.

“He’s just been huge for us here in that regard.”

This story is being updated.