Portland Trail Blazers Rebuild Coaching Staff for 2026-27

PORTLAND – The Portland Trail Blazers didn’t just tweak the back of the bench for 2026-27. They’ve rebuilt it with experience, ambition and a clear mandate under new head coach Micah Nori.

This is not a quiet reshuffle. It’s a statement of intent.

Triano Returns, With a Hall of Fame Resume

The headline name is Jay Triano. A 2026 Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame inductee, the veteran coach arrives with two decades of NBA experience and a résumé that stretches across continents and eras.

Triano has already lived several basketball lives: head coach of the Toronto Raptors from 2008-11, interim head coach of the Phoenix Suns in 2017-18, and the first Canadian-born head coach in NBA history. He guided the Canadian National Team across two long stints (1999-04 and 2012-19) and represented his country in three Olympic Games as a player.

And he knows Portland. Triano previously served as a Blazers assistant from 2012-16 before moving on to other stops, most recently as an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks during the 2025-26 season. Now he returns to a franchise that has changed faces but still craves an edge.

For Nori, there may be no better stabilizer than a coach who has seen just about everything the league can throw at a sideline.

Williams Comes Full Circle

If Triano represents seasoned authority, Mike Williams brings the fast-rising energy of a coach on the way up.

Williams joins Nori’s staff after three seasons as an assistant with the Utah Jazz (2023-26). Before that, he made his mark in the G League as one of its youngest head coaches, leading the Washington Wizards’ affiliate, Capital City Go-Go, to a 19-13 record and a postseason semifinal in 2022-23.

The path back to Portland is a neat loop. Williams began his career as a player development intern with the Trail Blazers, then moved to Washington as a player development assistant from 2018-21. Now he returns not as an intern, but as a trusted voice on an NBA bench.

Crawford, Abraham and Black: Continuity with a Climb

Quinton Crawford enters his second season as a Blazers assistant, and his track record in the G League is already decorated. He led the Stockton Kings to the 2025 NBA G League Championship in his first year as head coach, a title that underscored his reputation as a sharp, modern bench mind.

Crawford’s NBA experience runs deep. He has served as an assistant with the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers, including a role on the Lakers’ 2020 NBA Championship coaching staff. Portland keeps a coach who has already tasted the highest level of success.

Gilbert Abraham continues in his dual role, remaining an assistant coach while entering his third season as the team’s Director of Player Development. His background is rooted in both coaching and performance science. Before Portland, he spent 2022-23 as an assistant with the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, and worked as Director of Performance for Tandem Sports and Entertainment from 2021-23. For a young roster, that blend of development and performance expertise matters.

Leron Black is the latest internal promotion. After serving as a player development coach last season, he steps up to assistant coach. It’s a rapid rise, but not an unearned one. Black spent two years with Rip City Remix, the Blazers’ G League affiliate, as an assistant coach, and two seasons before that at the University of Dayton as a graduate assistant (2021-23).

Before he ever held a clipboard, Black played professionally overseas in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico from 2018-21. He knows the grind. Now he brings that perspective to the front of the bench.

Jeter and Luhnow: Player Development Core Strengthens

Player development remains a clear pillar of Portland’s strategy, and the Blazers have doubled down on the people tasked with building players from the inside out.

Pooh Jeter enters his fourth season as Player Development Coach, and his path to this role is as global as it gets. He played for G League Ignite from 2021-23, providing veteran leadership to high-profile prospects, and logged NBA minutes with the Sacramento Kings in 2010-11. His international stops span Spain, Israel, China, France, Turkey and Ukraine.

In Portland, Jeter’s ties run even deeper. He was inducted into the University of Portland Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept. 27, 2024. For young Blazers, he’s not just a coach; he’s living proof of how far the game can take you.

Jason Luhnow also steps into a larger role. Entering his fourth season with the organization, he transitions into a full-time player development coach after splitting duties as video coordinator and player development coach last year.

Luhnow’s story is rooted in Oregon. He played at Lake Oswego High School, then became a standout at Lewis and Clark College before heading to Australia to play for the Woodville Warriors in NBL1. When he returned stateside, he coached junior varsity and served as a varsity assistant at Lake Oswego High School and helped develop collegiate and professional players.

He joined the Blazers in 2022 as a video intern. Now he’s a full-time architect of player growth.

Ikenna Smart continues in a hybrid role as video coordinator and player development coach, while Ty Vitko returns for a second season as assistant video coordinator. John Townsend remains the team’s shooting coach, a steady presence in one of the most specialized roles on staff.

Bjorkgren, Brocato and the Broader Braintrust

Nate Bjorkgren, a familiar face on the Blazers’ bench, enters his fourth season with the franchise and moves into a new position: Special Assistant to the Coaching Staff and Basketball Operations. His background is rich in both NBA and head-coaching experience. Before Portland, he served as an assistant with the Toronto Raptors (2018-20 and 2021-23) and held the top job with the Indiana Pacers in 2020-21.

His new title signals a broader remit, bridging the gap between game-planning, strategy and the front office.

Portland also adds a fresh analytical mind in James Brocato, who joins as Director of Basketball Innovation after 12 years with the Dallas Mavericks. With Dallas, he rose to Director of Basketball Analytics, helping shape decisions through data in one of the league’s more forward-thinking organizations.

In Portland, Brocato’s mandate is clear: use data to support decision-making across basketball operations and carve out competitive advantages wherever the numbers allow. He arrives with a Juris Doctor from Gonzaga University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Washington State University, a combination that blends legal rigor, behavioral insight and analytical thinking.

A New Era Around Nori

Put it all together and Nori’s first season in charge will not be a solo project. Around him stands a bench stacked with former head coaches, player development lifers, G League champions, international veterans and data specialists.

Portland hasn’t just filled seats. It has built an infrastructure designed to squeeze every ounce of potential out of a roster still trying to find its ceiling.

Now the question hangs over the season: with this much brainpower and experience behind the scenes, how quickly can the Blazers turn structure into wins?