RealGM

Jay Triano fit the bill for being Toronto’s former head coach, the Canadian national team’s head coach and holding NBA jobs since 1998. But as the four-year lead assistant of a Portland team with a run of success, Triano would have been difficult for most to entice into a similar job with a non-playoff team.

Beyond his experience and disarming personality, Triano is an ideal fit because of what he and Portland experienced in recent years and how the Suns want to run a guard-oriented offense like he implemented for Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Despite low expectations, the Blazers reached the Western Conference semifinals last season after Lillard and McCollum combined for 46 points and 11 assists per game during the season.

“Jay is a very creative offensive mind,” Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough said. “He has great energy, very positive. The teams are somewhat similarly set up. The strength of our team, especially on the offensive end, are the guards. Both teams have scoring guards who are dynamic and play both positions.

“We’re going to try to use some of that (Portland offense) and some of the magic we had here two years ago when we won 48 games, combine it and see what happens." It is appropriate that the Suns are drawing inspiration from Portland’s surprise season because Triano said the Blazers looked at the Suns’ 48-34 season of 2013-14 and said, “We can do that.” Portland finished fifth in the West at 44-38 with nine rotation players who were between 19 and 26 years old on opening night.

The Suns have 11 contract players who will be between 18 and 26 years old on opening night.

“I see a lot of similarities,” Triano said. “Low expectations from teams around the league. A great group of young talent that wants to work and get better.

Triano gets his fill of head coach duty in the offseason with Canada Basketball, where the man he once advised to go elsewhere rather play for him at Simon Fraser University is his general manager. Steve Nash had made a recruiting visit to Simon Fraser in his native British Columbia when a storm delayed his departure on the ferry to his home in Victoria. That is when the real talk began.

“What would you do?” Nash asked Triano.

Triano was drafted out of Simon Fraser by the Los Angeles Lakers (eighth round and then cut in training camp) and CFL’s Calgary Stampeders (sixth round) and was a guard on the Canadian gold-medal team that beat a U.S. team led by Charles Barkley and Karl Malone in 1983. Triano, who played professionally in Mexico and Turkey, told Nash he would play at the highest level possible.

Triano has been one of Nash’s most trusted friends ever since, especially as they lived out their dreams as Canada's star and coach in the 2000 Olympics. After Triano was fired as Canada's coach in 2004, Nash never played for Canada again. When Nash became the GM in 2012, he restored Triano as head coach of the rising program.

That history with Nash makes Triano feel attached to Phoenix, along with his relationships with Bryan Colangelo in Toronto, where he was 87-142 as head coach, and Jerry Colangelo with Team USA, which tabbed Triano as an assistant coach.

“I’ve always felt like a part of this because of Steve,” Triano said. “I was here for his Ring of Honor ceremony. I was here for the MVP awards. It doesn’t feel like I’m brand new.”

Triano’s personality appears to be a good fit for young players. He is intensely competitive but keeps a balance with funny videos, practical jokes and trick shots.

As with Portland coach Terry Stotts, Triano said he plans to have ideas ready for when Watson seeks them. He will be responsible for blending his Portland offense with Watson’s sets.

“The biggest thing that went unnoticed a lot is the spacing on the floor,” Triano said. “When you have super-talented players, you’ve got to make sure that they have room to do what they can, whether that’s movement on the weak side, good spacing with shooters or putting them in a position where teams can’t lock in a certain screen-and-roll coverage.”