Blazers Annouce Addition Of 3 Assistant Coaches To Terry Stotts' Staff

The Portland Trail Blazers announced the hiring of three assistant coaches -- Jay Triano, David Vanterpool and Kim Hughes -- to fill out the staff of head coach Terry Stotts on Friday. Former Blazers interim coach Kaleb Canales will also serve as an assistant coach.

Here are some notable reactions and news bits concerning the moves. The team's press release is below.

Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com tweets...

Terry Stotts refused to comment on who his lead assistant will be. In fact, he said he's not a fan of naming someone the lead guy.

Terry Stotts on Kaleb Canales: "He will be our defensive coordinator."

Terry Stotts on Kim Hughes: "He's going to be our big man specialist. He does a great job developing big men"

Hersey Hawkins will remain with the Blazers as the Player Development Director. Dan Dickau -- Blazers Player Development Assistant -- status with organization is unknown being he's on part time deal. Stotts not making that descion.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets...

Sam Presti has lost staff in offseason, but David Vanterpool going back into coaching ranks w/ Portland is easily the toughest blow to OKC.

Brother Wendell Maxey tweets...

Digging David Vanderpool heading to Portland as assistant coach. Championship experience with CSKA Moscow / scout for OKC & dude could ball.

Mike Tokito of The Oregonian tweets...

Hughes was interim head coach of Clippers for 33 games after Mike Dunleavy was fired in 2010. Obviously worked with GM Neil Olshey.

Here's the team's press release.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts has added Jay Triano, David Vanterpool and Kim Hughes to his coaching staff, the team announced today.

"Jay, David and Kim bring a wealth of experience as coaches, players and front office personnel," said Stotts. "I have always had a lot of respect for their basketball knowledge and they will be very valuable additions to our staff."

Triano, 53, joins the Trail Blazers from the Toronto Raptors, where he most recently held the position of Vice President of Pro Scouting after serving as the team's head coach from 2008-11 (87-142, .380). The first Canadian born head coach in the NBA, Triano was previously an assistant in Toronto from 2002-08.

A native of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Triano served as the head coach for the Canadian men's national team from 1998-2004 (52-42, .553) and later as an assistant for USA Basketball. A former captain of Team Canada who played collegiately at Simon Fraser University, Triano competed in three Olympics for his home country.

Vanterpool, 39, joins the Trail Blazers bench after spending the past two seasons as a pro scout with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He played for European power CSKA Moscow from 2005-07, winning a Euroleague title there before becoming an assistant coach with the club upon retirement. Vanterpool was also a member of the Trail Blazers' 2010 NBA Summer League coaching staff.

Appearing in 22 games for the Washington Wizards in 2000-01, Vanterpool played collegiately at St. Bonaventure.

An assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers for seven seasons (2003-10), Hughes, 60, finished the final 33 games of the 2009-10 season as interim head coach. He spent the previous five seasons with the Denver Nuggets, where he served as director of scouting, director of player personnel and assistant coach. The Freeport, Ill., native and Wisconsin alum was also a scout for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Hughes is a six-year veteran of the ABA and NBA, playing for the New York/New Jersey Nets, Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers before finishing his career in Italy.

Triano, Vanterpool and Hughes join Kaleb Canales as assistants on Stotts' staff.

The expected hiring of Triano was first reported on Thursday night.

The Blazers hired Stotts earlier this month.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter