The Golden State Warriors agreed to terms with head coach Steve Kerr on his 13th and 14th seasons with the team after inking him to a two-year contract extension, but the franchise didn’t have the same luck with Kerr’s top assistant.
Terry Stotts spent the past two seasons working alongside Kerr and helping shape the offense around the star duo of Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler. But Stotts, a former head coach with 13 seasons of experience, left the team officially on May 14.
Marc Stein of “The Stein Line” then reported that Stotts did so in hopes of reclaiming the lead job with the Portland Trail Blazers, which he lost following the 2020-21 campaign.
“Former Blazers head coach Terry Stotts is indeed trying to get the Portland job for the second time after leaving his post this week as an assistant on Steve Kerr’s Golden State staff,” Stein wrote Sunday. “Stotts acknowledged as much in … [a] conversation with longtime Portland columnist Dwight Jaynes via Jaynes’ own Substack.”
Golden State also lost assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse this offseason.
Damian Lillard’s Return to Portland May Help Terry Stotts Land Trail Blazers’ Head Coaching Job
GettyDamian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Stotts, who will turn 69 years old during the 2026-27 season, spent nine years as the Blazers’ head coach between 2012-21. He earned a regular-season record of 402-318 over that span, and Portland made the playoffs in his final eight years at the helm.
The Blazers’ playoff record under Stotts was an underwhelming 22-40. It included three trips to the second round and one appearance in the Western Conference Finals in 2019, in which Kerr’s Warriors swept Portland on the way to their fifth consecutive NBA Finals berth.
All told, Stotts led three Blazers groups that fell to Kerr and Golden State in the playoffs: losing 4-1 in Round 2 in 2016, 4-0 in Round 1 in 2017 and 4-0 in the conference finals in 2019.
Portland won four playoff series during Stotts’ tenure, and point guard Damian Lillard was the star of all those teams. Lillard landed back with the Blazers after a two-year stint in Milwaukee, but sat out all last season after suffering a torn Achilles tendon during the 2025 playoffs.
Lillard’s presence in Portland and his relationship with Stotts could help the former Dubs assistant recapture his old job under a new ownership group. The Blazers finished last season with a 42-40 record, earning the No. 7 seed in the West before falling to the San Antonio Spurs 4-1 in the opening round.
Terry Stotts Instrumental in Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler Chemistry in 2025
GettyGolden State Warriors stars Steph Curry (left) and Jimmy Butler (right).
Stotts, who also served as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks from 2002-04 and Milwaukee Bucks between 2005-07, helped orchestrate the Warriors’ run down the stretch of the 2025 campaign after the team traded for Butler at the mid-season deadline.
Curry and Butler complemented each other exceptionally under Stotts’ overarching scheme, which resulted in the team capturing the No. 7 seed and defeating the second-seeded Houston Rockets in a seven-game series in Round 1.
Golden State went on to win its Round 2 opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Curry suffered a hamstring strain in the second quarter of that game and missed the remainder of the series. A banged-up Butler wasn’t enough to get the Warriors another victory, and they lost to Minnesota 4-1.
The Dubs were back in the play-in tournament this year, even despite serious injury concerns to multiple members of the team, including Curry (43 games played) and Butler (38 games played). Golden State battled the Phoenix Suns in a one-game showdown for the No. 8 seed in the West, but lost by a score of 111-96.
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