Entering the 2024-25 NBA season, many believed Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was a lame duck coach. While he had a team option for 2025-26, the lack of progress Portland had shown made it seem as if Billups would not be retained. Having a preseason O/U win total of 21.5, Portland widely exceeded that number as they finished 36-46. The Trail Blazers gave Billups an extension, keeping him behind the bench. It seems as if an NBA title-winning player will be joining him as an assistant coach. Tiago Splitter will also be joining the Trail Blazers coaching staff for the 2025-26 season.
Former NBA Champion To Join Trail Blazers Coaching Staff
Tiago Splitter Will Become An Assistant Coach For The Trail Blazers
Splitter has been an assistant in the NBA before, but he was out of the league last season. Apparently he is back in, as according to Chema de Lucas, an international writer, Splitter will be joining Portland. They will be the third NBA team he has been an assistant coach with after the Brooklyn Nets and Houston Rockets.
ÚLTIMA HORA: El entrenador de la gran sensación de Euroliga, Paris, Tiago Splitter, vuelve a la #NBA para unirse al staff técnico de los Blazers de Chauncey Billups.
Paris Basketball coach, Tiago Splitter, is returning to the #NBA to join Billups’ coaching staff at Portland.
— Chema de Lucas (@chemadelucas) June 7, 2025
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Last season, Splitter got his first taste at being a head coach. He became the head man for Paris Basketball, in their first year leveling up to the EuroLeague from the EuroCup. They won the EuroCup in 2024, thus being allowed to make the jump. Splitter took over for Tuomas Iiasalo, who joined the Memphis Grizzlies as an assistant (and is now their head coach). Splitter helped guide Paris Basketball to the EuroLeague quarterfinals where they fell to Fenerbahce.
Billups will have more than just Splitter as a new face on his coaching staff. It was also reported on Saturday that Patrick St. Andrews was coming aboard. Quinton Crawford, who was the head coach for the reigning G League champion Stockton Kings, previously was said to also be coming to Portland.
NBA Playing Career Lasted Seven Seasons
Standing at 6-foot-11, Splitter played seven seasons in the NBA. He was the 28th overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft but remained overseas before making his NBA debut in 2010. He spent five seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, one with the Atlanta Hawks, and his final one with the Philadelphia 76ers.
In 2014, Splitter was a member of the Spurs championship-winning team. He started 18 of his 23 appearances during that postseason and scored 12 points in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. San Antonio defeated the Miami Heat in five games during that year’s finals.
Altogether, Splitter appeared in 355 regular season and 65 postseason outings in the NBA. He made 153 starts in the regular season and finished with averages of 7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. The center shot 55.5% from the field and 69.7% from the foul line. Splitter’s most productive season came in 2012-13 when he had career-best averages in scoring (10.3), rebounding (6.4), and assists (1.6). His career-high of 26 points took place on April 25, 2012 in a Spurs win over the Phoenix Suns.
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