The Portland Trail Blazers have interviewed Denver Nuggets assistant coach and former NBA player Jared Dudley for their head coaching position, HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto reported on Friday.
Sources: The Trail Blazers interviewed Jared Dudley for their head coaching position. Dudley is the lead assistant coach for the Nuggets. He was also an assistant coach for the Mavericks. He spent 14 NBA seasons with the Bobcats, Suns, Clippers, Bucks, Wizards, Nets, and Lakers.
As Scotto mentioned, Dudley spent
this past season as the lead assistant on head coach David Adelman’s staff with the Denver Nuggets. Prior to the 2025-26 season, Dudley spent four seasons as an assistant under head coach Jason Kidd with the Dallas Mavericks from 2021 to 2025. He transitioned to coaching in 2021 after a 14-year NBA playing career.
Additionally, Dudley interviewed for the Phoenix Suns head coaching vacancy last offseason before the job went to Jordan Ott.
This isn’t the first time Dudley has been linked to the Portland job. Scotto’s reporting about the interview follows a report from NBA writer Jake Fischer of the People’s Insider [subscription required] tabbing Dudley as a person of interest for the position. In that same report, Fischer confirmed Blazers general manager Joe Cronin’s statement at exit interviews that Portland is casting “a wide net” in its coaching search. Fischer reported the Blazers are aiming to interview “upwards of 30 coaches” for the position.
During exit interviews, Cronin said Tiago Splitter remains a candidate in the head coaching search.
