PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin announced some blazing new hires Tuesday to join the basketball operations team, following up on his commitment to reshape not just the team but its entire workplace culture.
Hall of Famer and former Women's National Basketball Association professional player Tina Thompson is now entering her first season as a scout for the Trail Blazers, after previously serving as head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers from 2018 to 2022.
Thompson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018 as a result of her outstanding playing career. A four time WNBA Champion with the Houston Comets, a nine time WNBA All-Star and an eight time All-WNBA honoree.
Overseas, Thompson has earned championships in the Russian National League, Euro League and Romanian National League in addition to earning gold medals with Team USA at the 2004 and 2009 Olympics. Thompson was named to the W25 as part of the 25th anniversary of the WNBA in 2021, which commemorated the top 25 WNBA players of all time.
Cronin previously served as the interim General Manager after the December 2021 firing of former GM Neil Olshey. The franchise officially brought Cronin on as General Manager this past spring.
Jonah Herscu will also be a new addition to Trail Blazers as an Assistant Coach. Herscu started as an advanced scout in 2019 before becoming the assistant coach in 2021 from the Sacramento Kings.
He previously spent three seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers as an advanced scout and player development assistant (2018-19), and an assistant video coordinator (2016-18). Herscu holds 14 seasons of experience in the NBA, NBA G League, and WNBA.
A former basketball player at both Lake Oswego High School and Lewis and Clark College, Jason Luhnow is one of the newest additions to the Blazer's basketball operations team. He has also worked as the Head Junior Varsity Boys Basketball Coach and the Varsity Coach at Lake Oswego High School for over five years. Luhnow will be entering his first season as a full-time Assistant Video Coordinator after previously working with the Blazers as a video intern in January of 2022.
Other new additions to the team include:
- Taylor Walden, Manager of Performance Science
- Trevor Smith, Software Engineer
- Micah Smith, Assistant Athletic Trainer
- Ikeena Smart, Assistant Video Coordinator
- Juanita Samborski, Software Developer
- Katherine Overman, Sr. Data Scientist
- Jacob Mooallem, Analytics Coach
- Nico Mathieu and Swenge Lomani, International Scout(s)
- Dale Boyd, Assistant Strength Coach
- David Adkins, Director of Player Development
