After leading the Portland Trail Blazers to an unexpectedly successful season in 2015–16, head coach Terry Stotts has decided to stay on with the team indefinitely.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, Stotts and the Blazers reached a contract extension on Monday. The three-year agreement will keep Stotts in Portland through the end of the 2020–21 campaign.
Sam Amick of USA Today confirmed the information and added that the sum will be $5 million every year.
After superstar forward LaMarcus Aldridge signed with the San Antonio Spurs over the offseason, nobody predicted the Blazers would make it to the postseason, but they did just that with the help of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, a formidable backcourt combination.
It was the team’s third straight postseason trip under head coach Stotts, who has a 182-146 record in his four years in Portland.
If the Blazers had chosen not to retain Stotts, he would have been a highly sought-after player on the open market following his team’s victory against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs and their acquisition of the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference.
Had Steve Kerr not led the Golden State Warriors to an NBA record 73 victories, Stotts probably would have been considered for Coach of the Year, and Portland was obviously satisfied enough with that to keep him around.
