Report: Cavaliers considering Terry Stotts in their coaching search

The ex-Trail Blazers head coach was most recently an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Cleveland Cavaliers coaching search has just begun. But in addition to Kenny Atkinson and James Borrego, add another former NBA head coach to the mix.

Per longtime NBA insider Marc Stein, hiring ex-Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts is “is among the scenarios Cleveland has contemplated in the initial stages of its coaching search.” From Stein on Substack ($):

It is not yet clear if the Cavaliers are keeping Darius Garland on their roster this offseason, but league sources say that the prospect of hiring Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts is among the scenarios Cleveland has contemplated in the initial stages of its coaching search.

Former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson is widely considered the early favorite, but the list of coaching candidates to replace J.B. Bickerstaff is said to include Borrego, Stotts, former Cavaliers coaching consultant Dave Joerger and Knicks associate head coach Johnnie Bryant, who is close with Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell from their time together in Utah.

The thinking on Stotts: Mitchell and Garland are reminiscent as a backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, who were coached as a Portland duo by Stotts for eight seasons.

There’s not much here. Stotts, 66, had has longest and most successful stint as a head coach from 2012-2021 with a record 720-402. He’s a wildly respected offensive mind who worked with two guards in Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum — something of a template with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, if the Cavs elect to keep the two together. He spent part of last season as an assistant coach on Adrian Griffin’s staff in Milwaukee before leaving after an incident between the two.

Stotts was also an assistant on the Mavericks team that won the 2011 NBA title and was credited for helping design their offense. He also had stints as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks.

With the other names in Stein’s report, a running list of Cavaliers’ head coaching candidates includes:

• Terry Stotts
• Kenny Atkinson (who Stein wrote “is widely considered the early frontrunner”)
• Dave Joerger
• Johnnie Bryant
• James Borrego