The Portland Trail Blazers have hired Micah Nori as their new head coach, but they did not exactly make a strong commitment to him.
Details of Nori’s contract were reported after his hiring Tuesday, and they contained one bizarre detail. Nori is only getting one guaranteed year on his deal, with team options for each of the two seasons after that.
BREAKING: Micah Nori has agreed to become the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, sources tell @TheAthletic. Nori was lead assistant of the Minnesota Timberwolves for the past five years. Nori, 52, signed a one-year deal with team options for each of the next two seasons.
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) June 23, 2026
A professional coach being given a one-year contract has very little precedent. The Los Angeles Angels gave manager Kurt Suzuki a one-year deal at the start of the season, which also garnered attention for how unusual it was.
The deal comes under the new ownership of Tom Dundon, who has drawn criticism for making cost-cutting moves that some have derided as outright cheap. One has to wonder if Dundon’s budget has something to do with the unusual contract structure, especially since the outgoing Blazers coach was pretty cryptic about why he chose to depart.
Nori is a top assistant who has been linked to other head coaching jobs in each of the last two offseasons. One would have assumed he would be able to get more job security out of his deal, but that is clearly not the case.
