Trail Blazers Build Coaching Depth with Experienced Staff

PORTLAND – Micah Nori hasn’t coached a game yet in Portland, but the shape of his Trail Blazers is already coming into focus. It starts not with a star player, but with a bench full of experience, ambition and a few familiar faces.

On Thursday, the Blazers announced a sweeping set of additions and promotions across basketball operations for the 2026-27 season, headlined by a heavyweight hire: Jay Triano, a 2026 Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame inductee and one of the most seasoned minds in the league, joins Nori’s staff as an assistant coach.

Triano returns, with a Hall of Fame résumé

For Portland, Triano is more than a name on a press release. He’s a return, and a statement.

The first Canadian-born head coach in NBA history, Triano brings two decades of NBA coaching experience, including head coaching stints with the Toronto Raptors (2008-11) and Phoenix Suns (2017-18). He also spent years at the heart of Canadian basketball, guiding the Canadian National Team from 1999-04 and again from 2012-19, after representing his country as a player in three Olympic Games.

Portland knows him well. Triano worked as a Blazers assistant from 2012-16, part of the staff that helped steer the franchise through the Damian Lillard–LaMarcus Aldridge era. He returns from Dallas, where he most recently served as an assistant coach with the Mavericks during the 2025-26 season.

For a young roster trying to climb back toward relevance, that kind of institutional memory and global experience matters.

Williams comes full circle

If Triano represents the seasoned voice, Mike Williams brings sharp, fast-rising energy.

Williams joins Nori’s staff after three seasons as an assistant coach with the Utah Jazz (2023-26), another organization leaning heavily into development and modern schemes. Before that, he carved out a reputation as one of the youngest head coaches in the G League with the Washington Wizards’ affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go.

In 2022-23, Williams led the Go-Go to a 19-13 record and a postseason semifinal appearance, a run that put him on the radar as a coach on the rise. His coaching story, though, started in Portland. He began his career as a player development intern with the Trail Blazers before moving to Washington as a player development assistant from 2018-19, a role he held for three seasons.

Now he returns, no longer an intern, but a key voice on an NBA bench.

Crawford, Abraham and Black: the development spine

Quinton Crawford enters his second season with the Trail Blazers as an assistant coach, but his track record already speaks loudly inside the building. Before Portland, he guided the Stockton Kings to the 2025 NBA G League Championship in his first season as head coach. He’s also logged time as an assistant with the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers, including a spot on the Lakers’ 2020 NBA Championship coaching staff.

Crawford is part of a clear pattern: Portland is stacking the staff with coaches who know how to win and how to grow players.

Gilbert Abraham continues to straddle both worlds. He remains an assistant coach while entering his third season as the team’s Director of Player Development. Abraham arrived in Portland after the 2022-23 campaign as an assistant with the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, and previously served as Director of Performance for Tandem Sports and Entertainment from 2021-23. His dual role keeps him at the center of how the Blazers plan to shape their young core physically and mentally.

Then there’s Leron Black, whose rise mirrors the path of many modern coaches who grind through the development ranks. After spending last season as a player development coach with the Blazers, Black has been promoted to assistant coach. He previously spent two seasons with Rip City Remix, the franchise’s G League affiliate, as an assistant coach, and two seasons in the college game at the University of Dayton as a graduate assistant from 2021-23.

Before he ever drew up a play, Black played professionally overseas in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico from 2018-2021. That journey, from international locker rooms to G League benches to an NBA assistant’s chair, gives him a perspective players tend to trust.

Jeter and Luhnow: from the floor to the film room

Pooh Jeter’s name carries weight in Portland for more than one reason. He enters his fourth season as a Player Development Coach with the Blazers, but his connection to the city runs deeper. Jeter was inducted into the University of Portland Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept. 27, 2024, a nod to his impact long before he ever wore a Blazers polo.

On the court, Jeter’s career stretched across continents. He played for the Sacramento Kings in 2010-11 and then took his game to Spain, Israel, China, France, Turkey and Ukraine. He also spent two seasons (2021-23) with G League Ignite, where he provided veteran leadership to top prospects preparing for the NBA. That blend of mentorship and lived experience keeps him central to Portland’s player development pipeline.

Jason Luhnow, meanwhile, represents the new-age coach who climbed through video rooms and development roles. Entering his fourth season with the organization, he moves into a full-time player development coach position under Nori after splitting duties as video coordinator and player development coach last season.

Luhnow joined the Blazers in 2022 as a video intern. Before that, he built his basketball life locally, starring at Lake Oswego High School and then at Lewis and Clark College. He even took his game overseas, playing for the Woodville Warriors in Australia’s National Basketball League One division. He later returned home to coach, serving as junior varsity and varsity assistant at Lake Oswego High School and helping develop collegiate and professional players.

Now his eye for detail and player growth becomes a full-time asset on Nori’s staff.

Ikenna Smart will continue to serve as video coordinator and player development coach, while Ty Vitko returns for his second season as assistant video coordinator. John Townsend remains in his role as shooting coach, anchoring the technical side of the Blazers’ skill work.

Bjorkgren and Brocato: strategy and innovation upstairs

The changes don’t stop at the bench.

Nate Bjorkgren, entering his fourth season with the franchise, transitions into a new role as Special Assistant to the Coaching Staff and Basketball Operations. Bjorkgren’s résumé includes two stints as an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors (2018-20, 2021-23) and a season as head coach of the Indiana Pacers in 2020-21. Now he becomes a bridge between the front office and the coaching staff, a strategic voice with head-coaching experience in his back pocket.

Portland also adds a fresh analytical edge with the hiring of James Brocato as Director of Basketball Innovation. Brocato spent 12 years with the Dallas Mavericks, most recently as Director of Basketball Analytics, where his work fed into one of the league’s most data-driven organizations.

With the Blazers, Brocato will use data to support decision-making across basketball operations and hunt for competitive advantages wherever the numbers point. He brings an unusual academic mix as well, holding a Juris Doctor from Gonzaga University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Washington State University.

A new era, built from the bench out

For a franchise still rebuilding its identity, these moves are not cosmetic. They signal how Portland intends to compete: with a deep, development-focused staff, a blend of global experience and local roots, and an analytics arm wired directly into the basketball side.

The roster will ultimately decide how high the Trail Blazers can climb. But with Micah Nori surrounded by this kind of coaching and innovation infrastructure, the question shifts from whether Portland can grow to how quickly it can close the gap on the West.