By Jordan Long.
The Portland Trail Blazers season came to an end last night as the Denver Nuggets beat them 126-115 in game 6 of the first-round. Portland could be thinking about letting go of Head Coach Terry Stotts. He hasn’t shown he can win in the postseason.
Stotts has been Portland’s Head Coach for the past 9 years. His regular season record is impressive at 402-318, a winning percentage of .558. Portland advanced to the postseason every year under him except one, 2013. That season Portland finished 33-49 missing the playoffs by 4 games. Looking at just that, most franchises would keep a coach. It shows they are winning and the players are buying into the coach’s system.
Unfortunately, Portland hasn’t done well in the playoffs. 5 times, including this year, it has been first-round exits. The furthest they have gone with Stotts is the Western Conference Finals in 2019. They were swept by the Golden State Warriors.
Stotts isn’t concerned about losing his job yet. According to NBCsports.com, Stotts said, “My job security? I’m under contract for two more years. Just like at the end of every year, we’re all evaluated — players, coaches, management, we’re all evaluated. So, we’ll see what happens. But, you know, at the end of the season, when you lose, everybody’s evaluated … so we’ll see what happens. But all I know is that I’m under contract for two more years.”
Stotts is right that he has two more years left. The front office could be mulling a change. They haven’t even been to an NBA Finals. Portland was hoping Stotts would be able to at least get them there, especially since they have a “superstar” in Damion Lillard. He hasn’t been able to do so. It could be the results in the playoffs are enough to let him go. If Portland cans him, they will have to pay Stotts for those years left. The best case is they will keep Stotts.
The downside to letting Stotts go is a new Head Coach may not fix their problems. There is no guarantee that with a new guy on the sidelines will equal success. Take the Denver Nuggets for example. Denver went to the playoffs 10 years in a row from 2003 to 2013 under George Karl. Only one of those seasons Denver went further than the first-round, 2009. They were beaten by the L.A. Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets let go of Karl following the 2013 season. It took Denver 2 coaches and 6 years to make it back to the playoffs.
Portland will do what is best for them. Portland needs to learn from the Nuggets’ mistake and keep Stotts. Earning a playoff spot is tough. It is even harder to make a deep run. Hopefully, Portland continues with Stotts coaching the final 2 years of his contract. If not, it could be years of rebuilding.
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