Bickerstaff: Nori’s contract with Portland a ‘slap in the face’

National Basketball Coaches Association president J.B. Bickerstaff called the unconventional structure of new Portland Trail Blazers coach Micah Nori’s contract a “slap in the face to our value,” an opinion echoed by several coaches throughout the NBA.

According to league sources, Nori’s contract with the Trail Blazers includes only one guaranteed year, with team options on the second and third years of the deal. The deal has a below-market base salary and includes incentives based on team success, sources told ESPN.

Nori, 52, is a first-time head coach who spent the past five seasons as the Minnesota Timberwolves’ lead assistant coach and is well liked and highly regarded throughout the NBA. He interviewed for several head coach openings in recent years before being offered the job by new Portland governor Tom Dundon and general manager Joe Cronin, who conducted a search that included dozens of candidates and began informally during the regular season while interim coach Tiago Splitter was in the midst of leading the Trail Blazers to the playoffs.

Bickerstaff, the Detroit Pistons’ coach, emphasized that he is excited for Nori to get a head coaching opportunity but concerned about the precedent his contract could set.

“I understand his story and his journey to get to the spot where he was able to get this opportunity, and I don’t want to take away from what should be a special moment for him, for his family, and a job that’s well deserved and earned,” Bickerstaff told ESPN. “That’s first and foremost.

“But I feel like he was put in a situation that he shouldn’t be put in with having to make a choice of this nature because of the structure of what the contract is. It’s unfortunate that you have a dream, and from our perspective, it’s like someone’s taking advantage of your dream and devaluing what we feel like coaches have earned over the years.

“You think about the sacrifice, the time, the growth that coaches have helped and done with the NBA, and then for someone to come in and attempt to devalue the work that coaches have in this league is extremely disappointing.”

Several other current head coaches expressed similar concerns to ESPN but declined to discuss the situation on the record.

Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, whose lengthy tenure as the coaches’ association president ended when he was replaced by Bickerstaff before last season, praised Nori but opted not to weigh in on the controversial contract.

“Micah is very highly thought of by his fellow coaches,” Carlisle said in a text message to ESPN. “He is a great hire with a great opportunity ahead of him.”

The Trail Blazers, via a team spokesperson, declined to comment. Nori’s agent Bret Just, who also represents Bickerstaff and several other NBA coaches, also declined to comment.

Dundon’s unique cost-cutting measures — including not traveling two-way players during the playoffs and opting not to pay late checkout fees for most staffers on game days — have drawn scrutiny and criticism on multiple occasions since he took control of the Trail Blazers on March 30, when the NBA board of governors approved the $4.25 billion sale of the franchise to a group of investors led by the Dallas-based billionaire.

Dundon was also criticized for discussing the Trail Blazers’ head coaching job with several candidates during the season while Splitter, who took over on an interim basis after Chauncey Billups was arrested on federal charges related to a gambling ring following the season opener, guided Portland to a 42-40 record and playoff appearance. Sources said Dundon discussed the job with mid-major college coaches who were making higher salaries than he mentioned in those conversations.

Splitter was a finalist for the job before being hired as the Chicago Bulls’ coach. Boston Celtics assistant coach Tyler Lashbrook was also a finalist. A source with knowledge of the discussions told ESPN that Trail Blazers management was negotiating with multiple candidates simultaneously as a method of maximizing leverage.

As owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, Dundon negotiated a similar deal with coach Rod Brind’Amour in 2018. The Hurricanes have a 378-182-56 record in eight regular seasons under Brind’Amour, advancing to the playoffs each year and winning this season’s Stanley Cup.

It’s rare for an NBA coach to reach the final year of his contract without an extension, much less be coaching on a year-to-year deal, due to the challenges such uncertainty creates in maintaining authority with players and building a coaching staff.

“It changes the math on where a coach stands, and it creates an environment where how do you hold players accountable when it looks like you are easily replaced and removed if things don’t go the way that players may see it going,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s almost, which is disappointing, a mindset of the substitute teacher being there with no guarantee or support [regarding] what it looks like long term or in the future.

“I’ve talked to a lot of coaches — head coaches, assistant coaches — who are extremely concerned. It’s a very serious matter to us as coaches to make sure that we protect the value of coaching staffs. It’s years and years of work that coaches have put in to put ourselves in this position and to put future coaches in the position where our value remains and isn’t disregarded because of a power flux of ownership.”

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch defended Nori’s decision to accept the deal.

“I thought it was a shame that a lot of the story about Micah’s great opportunity was overshadowed by the nature of the deal that he signed,” Finch told Minnesota reporters Tuesday night. “That’s a personal decision. That’s a business decision. That’s between him, the team and the agent.

“I just know this. There’s 30 of these jobs. They’re hard to get. They’re incredibly rewarding in a lot of different ways. I know he wasn’t focused on certainly money, but he was first focused on opportunity. That’s what we preach to all of our guys here. You should chase opportunity, not money.

“Then I also know you bet on yourself in this world. Especially when you’re an outsider — we considers ourselves a little bit of outsiders, we weren’t raised in the game. We didn’t play at North Carolina or Duke, so sometimes your path is just different, and you’ve got to take chances along the way.”

One veteran coach told ESPN that he believed that Nori’s contract would be an exception, not a precedent setter.

“Most ownership understands that there is value in quality coaching and good coaching, and they’re willing to pay for it,” Bickerstaff said. “Coaching salaries have been increasing because the league understands and owners understand the value of quality coaching. So for a new guy to come in who doesn’t have that understanding and to go out and chop at the knees of coaches is a slap in the face to our value.”

ESPN’s Anthony Slater contributed to this report.