The Trail Blazers announced today in a news release that they have signed Nate Bjorkgren and Chris Fleming as assistant coaches to join Chauncey Billups’ staff. It was initially reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link) that Bjorkgren and Fleming would be joining the Blazers.
Bjorkgren was an assistant coach for the Raptors in 2018–20 and again in 2021–23 before the team fired Nick Nurse a year ago. He was the head coach of the Pacers for one season in 2020–21 and also has head coaching experience in the G League. Bjorkgren was spotted at some of the Blazers’ pre-draft practices earlier this month, and Rose Garden Report’s Sean Highkin surmised that he might become a member of Billups’ staff.
Conversely, Fleming became a free agent in the coaching position after the Bulls choose not to keep him after the 2023–2024 campaign. He had served as an assistant coach for Chicago for the last five years, having previously been a member of the coaching staffs at Denver and Brooklyn. Similar to Bjorkgren, Fleming has also been a head coach in the past, but only outside of the NBA. From 2008 to 2014, he managed Brose Bamberg in Germany, and from 2014 to 2017, he led the German national team.
The Blazers had decided not to extend the contracts of Rodney Billups and Scott Brooks, thus they had been searching for seasoned assistants. They also lost Steve Hetzel, who relocated to Brooklyn to work with Jordi Fernandez’s new crew after leaving Portland.
Early in the spring, there had been rumors that Chauncey Billups might not return to lead the Blazers in 2024–2025. Although the rumors have since subsided, it appears that Billups will have a new coaching staff to work with when the season returns in the autumn.