Tom Dundon’s Stanley Cup honeymoon might be short-lived.
On Sunday, the Hurricanes won their first Stanley Cup since 2006 and first under Dundon, who bought the team for $420 million in 2018. But the Hurricanes’ title run put a hold on the coaching search for the Trail Blazers, which Dundon paid $4.24 billion for in March in the first part of a multi-tiered transaction.
With just a week before the NBA draft, Dundon has to work quickly to make his first big hire as the team’s owner. On Monday, ESPN reported that the Bulls hired Tiago Splitter as their next head coach, taking one reported finalist off Portland’s list.
Splitter had no NBA head coaching experience prior to this season, but became the Trail Blazers’ interim coach after Chauncey Billups was arrested in October as part of a federal gambling probe. Splitter, an NBA veteran who won the 2014 title with the Spurs, led Portland to the playoffs despite the circumstances.
Longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein reported on Monday that Splitter was one of three finalists in Portland, along with Minnesota assistant Micah Nori and Celtics assistant Tyler Lashbrook.
