New Portland coach Mike Nori says the Blazers are ready to build on last year’s playoff run

Mike Nori, Portland’s new head coach, spoke to the media for the first time Thursday night at a press conference alongside general manager Joe Cronin. Nori said that as a first-time head coach, “very rarely do you get a chance to coach a team that was in the playoffs,” adding that most first jobs come with a much worse situation. He noted that Portland already won last season and had “a taste of it under a difficult situation,” praising Tiago and his staff for doing “phenomenal” work in getting the team into the playoffs.

Nori said the next step is bringing Damian Lillard back into the mix and figuring out “how we take that step forward.” He described the team’s identity as one built on physical play, with defensive players throughout the roster, the ability to force turnovers, and the capacity to play at a high pace.

Explaining why he took the job, Nori called it an opportunity. He said that for 28 years, and during the first 25 of them, he never had an agent, and that he never thinks about money or contract length. “I know that if I succeed, the rest of it will sort itself out,” he said.

Nori also referred to owner Tom Dundon, saying he can only rely on what Dundon told him, and that seven days earlier Dundon had lifted a trophy with the only coach he had ever had. On the roster, Nori highlighted the team’s defensive versatility, Clingan as a rim protector, and Camara, whom he compared to Jaden McDaniels. He said Camara drew some of the toughest matchups in the league last season and concluded, “These guys are learning how to win, and they learned how to win last year.”