Tom Dundon’s status as owner of the Carolina Hurricanes, in addition to being governor of the Portland Trail Blazers, has impacted the latter’s search for a new head coach.
Per NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, the Hurricanes’ advancing to the Stanley Cup Final has “to a degree” slowed down the Blazers’ process as they interview perspective coaching candidates.
The report also noted that Los Angeles Clippers lead assistant Jeff Van Gundy did not advance to the list of finalists being considered by Portland.
Blazers acting coach Tiago Splitter is among the finalist group, per Stein and Fischer. Micah Nori of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Tyler Lashbrook of the Boston Celtics were also identified as making it to the final grouping.
Van Gundy was initially considered a strong candidate for Portland after the team requested permission to interview him for the job.
Dundon has been the majority owner of the Hurricanes since 2018. They have been one of the best teams in the NHL over the past five seasons, but their recent postseason runs prior to this year ended in disappointment.
Carolina lost in the Eastern Conference Finals in two of the previous three years.
The 2025-26 Hurricanes had the second-most points in the NHL during the regular season. They steamrolled through the East with a 12-1 record through the first three rounds of the playoffs to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006.
Carolina host the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday. The two teams will play Game 2 at Lenovo Center on Thursday night. If the series goes the full seven games, it would end on June 17.
Even though Blazers general manager Joe Cronin can be the primary driver of the search for a full-time coach, Dundon will certainly have some level of involvement in the process.
The Athletic’s Jason Quick previously reported Dundon attempted a “covert” search for coaching candidates that included Michael Malone, as well as college coaches Josh Schertz of St. Louis University and Ben McCollum of Iowa.
Splitter was the Blazers’ interim coach for the final 81 games of the regular season and into the playoffs. He led them to a 42-39 record and the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.
The Blazers lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round in five games. It was their first playoff appearance since the 2020-21 season.
