Tiago Splitter, who left the Trail Blazers as their interim coach to become the head coach of the Bulls, posted a farewell message on social media.

Splitter wrote, “Portland, These have been great months, and I felt truly welcomed by the city from day one. Thank you to everyone in the organization for your daily dedication and support from day 1. Thank you to the fans for all the love and encouragement. Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this journey. To the players, thank you for your commitment and hard work every day. It was a privilege to work alongside you. See you guys. Thank you, Tiago.”

Bill Oram of The Oregonian wonders if new owner Tom Dundon made a mistake by letting Splitter go. Oram believes the Blazers’ handling of Splitter, who earned the right to continue as Portland’s head coach, will reverberate around the league, unless his replacement delivers results that make people forget about it.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

• Would the Thunder’s Aaron Wiggins benefit from a change of scenery? Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman thinks so. Mussatto notes that Wiggins doesn’t have an elite skill. Rather, he’s a well-rounded player who does a lot of things well. Wiggins saw his role diminish this past season, particularly in the postseason when he averaged 5.8 minutes in 13 appearances after getting steady minutes off the bench during their championship run. Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain passed him in the rotation and Wiggins still has three years left on his contract.
• Is it time for the Timberwolves to take a “gap year?” Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tackles that topic, noting they need to restock their depleted assets. Perhaps the best way for them to build around their core players in their prime years is to explore trades involving Julius Randle and/or Rudy Gobert.
• The Jazz have a healthy cap situation for the upcoming season, though that could change the following offseason as they look to extend their young core, Yossi Gozlan of ThirdApron.com notes in his offseason preview. Gozlan anticipates Walker Kessler‘s restricted free agency could drag on until the fall. He also believes Keyonte George could be looking at a maximum contract worth 25 percent of the salary cap, currently projected at $251.2MM over five years.