What head coach Terry Stotts did with the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2015-16 season was nothing short of miraculous. Despite losing five of his top six players from last year’s team over the offseason, Stotts took a ragtag roster of misfits and undervalued talents to a 44-38 record and a Western Conference Semifinals berth, earning Coach of the Year runner-up honors in the process. But even that somehow might not be enough to guarantee Stotts’ return to Portland next season.
According to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times on Saturday, the buzz at the NBA Combine in Chicago is that Stotts, who is due for a contract renewal, is not a lock to return as coach of the Blazers.
Scuttlebutt at NBA Combine in Chicago is that Terry Stotts returning to coach the Blazers isn't a slam dunk.Should know, though, in few days
— Gery Woelfel (@GeryWoelfel) May 14, 2016
Yes, there is an unexpected surplus of quality coaching candidates currently on the market (see: Vogel, Frank; Hornacek, Jeff; Blatt, David; etc.) and yes, the turnover rate of NBA head coaches is comically high. But for Stotts to be the next victim of the ritualistic coaching sacrifice would be utterly ridiculous.
The 58-year-old is widely seen as a top-five head coach in the NBA today and is one of the best X’s and O’s guys around. Stotts has outperformed expectations almost every single year in Portland and has an immense amount of respect in the Blazers’ locker room.
Hopefully all this so-called “scuttlebutt” is nothing more than just that because there’s really no universe out there where failing to bring back Stotts as the Blazers’ head coach makes any semblance of sense.
