Trail Blazers Name Sergi Oliva Head Coach of Rip City Remix for 2024-25 Season

The Blazers' assistant general manager will lead their G League team this season before returning to the front office.

Trail Blazers assistant general manager Sergi Oliva will serve as the head coach of their G League team, the Rip City Remix, for this upcoming season, according to a league source. He will replace Jim Moran, who left earlier this summer for a job on the Sacramento Kings’ coaching staff. ESPN first reported the news.

The organization, with full support from head coach Chauncey Billups, is planning to implement new developmental strategies at the G League level that they feel will benefit the Blazers in the long term. Oliva has the most coaching experience of anyone in Joe Cronin’s front office, having served as an assistant coach under Quin Snyder in Utah from 2020 to 2022 as well as in a dual coaching and front-office role in Philadelphia before that.

A native of Spain, Oliva joined the Blazers’ front office as an assistant GM in June of 2022, shortly after Cronin had the interim tag lifted from his job title and became the permanent general manager. He was one of three assistant GM hires Cronin made early on, along with Andrae Patterson and Mike Schmitz.

Oliva’s stint as the head coach of the Remix, where he will work directly with GM Danny Connors and assistant GM Pooh Jeter, is only expected to be for one season. After the 2024-25 G League season, Oliva will return to his previous role in the front office on a full-time basis.

Along with Moran, the Remix also lost associate head coach George Galanopolous this summer, who joined David Riley’s staff at Washington State in July. Two other assistant coaches, Chris Kent and Leron Black, are still with the organization.

The next major event on the G League calendar is the draft on Oct. 26, with training camp starting two days later. The G League season begins in mid-November.