Ex-Blazers coach Terry Stotts could land on staff of top contender?

Jan 20, 2020; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts watches from the sideline during the first half at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Terry Stotts took a gap year in 2021-22, but it may be time for him to return.

Veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein said this week in a post to Substack that the Boston Celtics have shown interest in the former Portland Trail Blazers coach Stotts to be the top assistant under new interim coach Joe Mazzulla. Stein does note though that the Celtics are ultimately “pessimistic” about their chances of landing Stotts.

Additionally, Stein reiterates the Celtics’ interest in another former NBA coach that they had been previously linked to.

Boston continues to search for a new assistant after Mazzulla was abruptly elevated to interim coach amid the scandal and subsequent suspension for the entire 2022-23 season of head coach Ime Udoka. At 34, Mazzulla is set to be one of the NBA’s youngest coaches and could use a veteran coach’s voice to guide him.

Stotts, meanwhile, sat out last season after spending the previous nine as head coach of Portland (leading them to two division titles and a conference finals berth in 2019). He did interview for a prominent NBA head coaching job this offseason but did not get it. With bigger-name candidates like Quin Snyder and Frank Vogel as well as an ascendant new generation of younger assistant coaches to contend with, perhaps it makes the most sense for the 64-year-old Stotts to take a job as a top assistant at this point of his career.