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Two writers Jason Quick and John Canzano say the Blazers have Stotts hanging in the wind.
And then this from Canzano
What do you think? Do you support Allen waiting until after the playoffs or are you on the side of the writers?
I say, it doesn't hurt to make the man earn his extension and to wait to extend him.
Terry Stotts is 87-77 in two years in Portland, including a 54-28 record this season. (Bruce Ely/The Oregonian)
Jason Quick | jquick@oregonian.com By Jason Quick | jquick@oregonian.com
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on April 16, 2014 at 10:00 PM, updated April 16, 2014 at 10:32 PM
The man who just finished coaching the greatest single-season turnaround in Trail Blazers history is so uneasy about his job security today, he doesn’t want to talk, read or speculate about his status.
How’s that for a welcome to the playoffs moment for Terry Stotts?
His immediate boss, general manager Neil Olshey, is sticking to some odd, self-imposed policy that he won’t discuss Stotts’ contract until after the season is done. Normally, I would let Neil be Neil and let him go on doing his business in his I’m-the-smartest-guy-in-the-room cocoon.
After all, this is a no-brainer, right? There’s no question the third-year option on Stotts’ contract should be picked up. And nobody would blink an eye if a multiyear extension was tacked on for good measure. It’s a non-story that can wait until after the season.
But then I see Stotts fidget, and hear him hem and haw when the subject is brought up, and it’s clear this is a very real concern for the man who has brought flair and success to what was a very stale Blazers franchise.
Olshey will probably want to spin this as media fabrication, but if he is really so smart, he would understand people, and realize he should talk to his coach, and give him a vote of confidence and assurance that he will be taken care of after the playoffs are done.
And keep in mind, it would be simple for Olshey to merely state his commitment to Stotts publicly. Something along the lines of “Terry has done a great job and we will look to get something done after the season.”
And there would be no quibbling if Olshey wanted to do it behind closed doors. But judging from Stotts’ unease, it is clear Olshey hasn’t afforded him that courtesy.
I asked Stotts on Wednesday night if he has been given that assurance that his future is secure in Portland.
Stotts, as he is wont to do lately, was curt.
“I don’t think I have to answer that,’’ he said.
Not even Stotts’ agent, the powerful Warren LeGarie, will stand up for his client, choosing not to return messages seeking clarity on his clients’ standing. But perhaps that’s because he’s stuck in the middle of a conflict of interest: He is also the agent for Olshey.
LeGarie was in town Sunday for the Golden State game, and he and Olshey were connected at the hip for much of the pregame, all smiles, not a worry in the world.
So what gives?
It’s hard to make sense of it considering four players I spoke with — LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum — all say they want Stotts back. It’s hard to fathom there’s danger for the guy who has coached the league’s best offense, and has guided the marked development of Joel Freeland, Will Barton, and Lillard while igniting career-best seasons from Aldridge, Robin Lopez, Batum and Matthews.
Yet, from all appearances, Stotts is dangling in the wind.
My only explanation for this insanity: owner Paul Allen.
The Boss hasn’t witnessed a playoff series victory since Scottie Pippen and Rasheed Wallace led the Blazers over Utah to advance to the 2000 Western Conference Finals.
Perhaps he has tired of in-season victories not translating to postseason success. Perhaps he remembers all too well that two of the Blazers’ latest playoff failures included glaring coaching mistakes by Nate McMillan.
In 2009, with the 54-win Blazers holding the fourth seed and homecourt advantage over Houston, McMillan prior to Game 1 made a late-adjustment and decided to let Joel Przybilla guard 7-foot-6 center Yao Ming one-on-one. It was a puzzling move, considering his scouting department suggested employing a strategy to front Yao, a plan that worked during the regular season for the Blazers and a tactic utilized by the majority of the NBA against Yao.
With no one in front of him to discourage entry passes, Yao had one of his greatest games: He hit all nine of his shots and scored all 24 of his points in the first half as the Rockets routed Portland 108-81.
Having lost homecourt advantage, the Blazers never recovered and went down in six games.
To this day, McMillan’s decision lives in Houston lore. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey held an online Twitter chat with his followers on March 25 this season during which he was asked for his favorite moment as Rockets GM. He answered Yao’s Game 1 performance in Portland.
When Kevin Pritchard, then the Blazers’ GM and now in Indiana, tweeted it wasn’t his favorite memory, Morey replied “We were so happy you didn’t front him!”
The next postseason, Alvin Gentry – then the Suns’ coach – made a bold move before Game 2, shifting small forward Grant Hill to check point guard Andre Miller, who used his size advantage on Steve Nash to score 31 points and lead the Blazers to a 105-100 road win in Game 1.
Gentry’s move stood as the tactical swing of the series as Miller was effectively neutralized for the remaining games. McMillan never had a counter-move, and the Blazers never tried to expose the weakness of Gentry’s move - testing Nash’s ability to guard Batum in the post. Part of that was because of Batum’s tender shoulder, but part of it was McMillan’s stubbornness, as he claimed a post-up game was not in Batum’s repertoire.
The bottom line was Portland lost its advantage, and the series, and for the second year in a row, part of the unraveling was coaching decisions.
Could all this waiting, and reluctance to endorse, let alone reward Stotts, be Allen stalling to see how Stotts handles the playoffs? Does Stotts have to outcoach Kevin McHale to save his job?
Common sense would say it shouldn’t come to playoff performance. Common sense would say Stotts’ job status shouldn't even be a topic. But Paul Allen has ruled more with emotion and whimsy than common sense. Think Rich Cho and his 11-month stint as GM. Think Kevin Pritchard and his ugly firing hours before the NBA draft. And it’s not like Allen has never given extensions in season. He gave McMillan a two-year extension in March 2011 and Maurice Cheeks a one-year extension in November 2003.
Ninety percent of coaching survival in the NBA is whether the players like you. And the big names on the Blazers want Stotts back.
“I mean, I love him as a coach,’’ Lillard said. “We have a freedom on the team. It’s comfortable for me. I understand him, he understands me. He’s a good person. He’s not a hard guy to play for. It’s not like he is too tough, and it’s not like he is not tough enough.’’
Added Matthews: “He’s a players coach. He gives the players freedom to play out there. That’s the biggest thing. Because at the end of the day you can scheme and pattern all you want, but it’s going to be us out there making it happen. So honestly, that’s the biggest thing for me: he gives us freedom.’’
And Batum: “I mean, look at what we’ve done. Nobody expected us to be this good. And he is a big part of that. This is his system, and we love playing in it. He is a very good coach, very good.’’
And Aldridge, the franchise cornerstone: “He’s been great this year. He has given everybody an opportunity and we have what 52 or 53 wins? So he has been good.’’
The real case for Stotts, however, should be whether he offers sustainability, and doesn’t it feel like the Blazers will only get better with him at the helm? Sure, a lot of credit should go to players like Freeland, Barton, Matthews and Lillard, who all work their tails off, but shouldn’t some of the credit go to Stotts and his staff?
And if Stotts’ future does come down to this playoff series, we have seen he is creative, flexible and timely in his decision making. Think using Dorell Wright as a power forward when Aldridge was hurt. Think using Batum to defend point guards. Think the in-game shift to have Matthews check Stephen Curry this week.
So yes, LaMarcus, I agree Stotts has been great this year. But it’s crazy to think it might not be good enough, isn’t it?
-- Jason Quick
And then this from Canzano
Canzano: Trail Blazers Shouldn't Wait To Give Terry Stotts Keys To Franchise.
Bumped into Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey, baseline, arms folded, an hour before tipoff the other night at the Moda Center.
We talked for a few minutes about the season, NBA contracts, fatherhood, lacrosse games, before Warriors owner Joe Lacob walked up. Next came Golden State GM Bob Myers. Then came agent Warren LeGarie. I said hello, excused myself, and I took seat a few feet away on the Blazers bench, taking in the scene.
LeGarie, who also runs the NBA's summer league, currently represents both Olshey and Blazers coach Terry Stotts. He also happened to represent Stotts' predecessor, interim-coach Kaleb Canales. Also, LeGarie was agent to Portland ex-GM's John Nash and Kevin Pritchard. He represented one-time Blazers assistant general manager Tom Penn, too.
After owner Paul Allen and right-hand man, Bert Kolde, I'm not sure there's been a more frequent and influential fixture behind the scenes in Portland than the San Francisco-based LeGarie. Also, not a person around apparently more deftly skilled in handling Allen.
I haven't always rooted for LeGarie to win. But I am today. Because the most important looming issue for the Blazers is whether Stotts is still in Portland's future after the team's red-hot start tapered off in the second half. I know he's the right coach. You probably do, too. But it's LeGarie's job to sell that idea to Allen.
Stotts' original contract was a two-year deal with a team option for the 2014-15 season. That hasn't yet been picked up, nor has Portland talked extension. The team is sitting at 53 victories, and with a win Wednesday night in the regular-season finale against the Clippers, Stotts would equal the best record by a Blazers coach since the 1999-2000 season.
The Blazers must bring Stotts back. They ought to announce the exercising of the option now, or a longer-term extension, sending a clear and concise message to the locker room in front of a huge NBA playoff series against the Rockets.
I know.
Not our billionaire's style.
Maybe the Blazers owner wants to see if Stotts can win a playoff series. Maybe Allen is withholding his public vote of confidence simply because he can. Maybe Allen sees George Karl out of work and is doing some deep thinking about the second half of this season. That's where LeGarie comes in. Because even as the agent often rankles people, his real skill is in walking into a cold room and convincing the ice sculptures it's warm.
I watched LeGarie work the Moda Center on Sunday night. He talked with Olshey. He visited with Myers. He conversed with Lacob. I bumped into him again in the arena hallway after what was a fantastic overtime game, and as we walked past Warriors coach Mark Jackson, whose heart had just been broken by the Blazers, LeGarie greeted the coach with, "Maarrcus, what a game... I should have paid to see it."
A few years ago, after the Blazers fired Penn, I called LeGarie for a comment. He said of the Blazers, "They just did a drive-by." I used the quote in a column that warned that franchise golden-boy, Pritchard, was in serious trouble. LeGarie's quote infuriated Allen, who eventually finished the job anyway.
You figured LeGarie's clients might never work around here again. And yet, here we are, with the Blazers headed to the playoffs and LeGarie picking up his 5 percent of the GM and coaching bonuses.
Now it's time for real work by LeGarie. Because those who have worked closely with Allen over the years tell the same story — he is a guy who needs to be sold. He loves owning leverage and rarely compromises. At Vulcan Inc., Allen is surrounded by analysts, and data, and Ivy-League suits. But what he most responds to is a convincing and passionate narrative. Ask Bob Whitsitt and Pete Carroll. Also, someday ask LeGarie, who might be the best of them all.
LaMarcus Aldridge, who is having his best season ever under Stotts, has a contract that expires at the end of next season. The Blazers need to sell him on continuity and a future. Damian Lillard, Nic Batum and Wesley Matthews are all seemingly part of that same Blazers future, and young enough to make you hope. But what LeGarie must make Allen see is that not only is Stotts the no-brainer decision to coach that group, but also, that bringing Stotts back and making the announcement now is intrinsic to a complete and immediate picture of Portland's future.
Olshey is in. Stotts is in limbo. LeGarie represents them both and refers to them as, "my guys." Stotts has been terrific, even with a bench that remains awful. If results are what matters, he's done the job.
Waiting until June to exercise the team option doesn't arm Stotts with playoff-series authority. It might just tick him off. Leaving a coach to dangle, however low to the ground, doesn't instill confidence or hint at the direction of a franchise that has too often felt rudderless. It might just blow up in Allen's face. Holding Stotts in limbo is especially unsettling because we all know Aldridge is observing. And raising doubt in the mind of the best player on the roster isn't a move Portland should make.
It's LeGarie's job to close the deal.
Only one game left in the regular season?
I see a chance for two victories.
What do you think? Do you support Allen waiting until after the playoffs or are you on the side of the writers?
I say, it doesn't hurt to make the man earn his extension and to wait to extend him.
