Terry Stotts won’t be voted off the island any time soon.
According to a report by Chris Haynes of ESPN on Wednesday, the Portland Trail Blazers head coach is not in danger of losing his job in spite of the team’s 15-21 record to start the year.
The Blazers have faced turmoil both on the court and behind closed doors this season. But Stotts isn’t the one who deserves the blame here.
Simply put, a roster centered around two great-offense, minimal-defense alpha males in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum was always bound to be volatile, particularly once the two were no longer making team-friendly money. On top of that, the $70 million deal Portland gave Evan Turner over the offseason already looks like a millstone in Year 1, while Allen Crabbe got $75 million of his own this past summer only to average 9.9 points per game in 2016-17. Relying on Mason Plumlee as their primary paint protector has also caused the Blazers to bleed points in bunches this season.
As for Stotts, who led Portland to consecutive 50-plus-win seasons from 2013 to 2015 and finished second in Coach of the Year voting last season, he’s been the one steady presence in a year of great turbulence. Highly regarded as one of the NBA’s brightest tactical minds, Stotts has also proven to always have his players’ backs when the going gets tough, so it’s nice to see that management is now doing the same for him.
