Blazers Ink Coach Terry Stotts To Multi-Year Contract Extension

The Portland Trail Blazers announced the signing of coach Terry Stotts to a multi-year contract extension on Thursday.

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed Head Coach Terry Stotts to a multi-year contract extension, it was announced today by General Manager Neil Olshey. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Terry has done an outstanding job during his first two years with the organization," said Olshey. "This extension illustrates our confidence in him as our head coach as well as the Portland Trail Blazers' continued commitment to building a model of consistency and stability."

Stotts led the Trail Blazers to a 54-win season in 2013-14, marking the largest improvement in franchise history and the sixth-best record all-time after the team went 33-49 the previous year. Portland won its first playoff series in 14 seasons, defeating the Houston Rockets in six games and setting up a Western Conference Semifinal matchup with the San Antonio Spurs. The postseason berth was the team's first since 2010-11.

"Portland is a unique and special place and I'm very proud to be the head coach of the Trail Blazers," said Stotts. "We started the process two seasons ago and laid the foundation for success. I look forward to the possibilities of the upcoming seasons."

Named the NBA's Western Conference Coach of the Month for November of this season after getting the Trail Blazers off to a 13-3 start, Stotts, 56, has molded Portland into one of the top offensive teams in the NBA, ranking among league leaders in scoring (fourth), free throw pct. (first), three-point pct. (10th), rebounds (first), assists (ninth) and turnovers (fifth) for 2013-14. The Trail Blazers' 106.7-point scoring average stands as the highest in 20 years (1993-94, 107.3 ppg).

Introduced as the franchise's 14th head coach on August 7, 2012, Stotts has compiled an 87-77 (.530) record in two seasons at the helm in Portland. A 19-year coaching veteran, he previously served as an assistant coach with Dallas for four seasons from 2008-12, winning an NBA Championship in 2011. His NBA head coaching record with Atlanta (2002-04), Milwaukee (2005-07) and Portland (2012-present) is 202-245 (.452).

John Canzano of The Oregonian reports on Twitter...

Terry Stotts' contract extension with Trail Blazers is for 3 guaranteed seasons, team option picked up in 2014-15 plus two more, per source.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported earlier Thursday that the Blazers were close to reaching a deal.

After a remarkable franchise turnaround, Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts is nearing agreement on a multiyear contract extension, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

The Blazers hold an option on the third and final year of Stotts' contract for 2014-15, but that'll likely be torn up and replaced with the new deal.

Stotts, 56, just completed his second season with the Blazers after arriving from the Dallas Mavericks, where he was an assistant under Rick Carlisle.

After posting a 33-win campaign in 2012-13, Stotts led Portland to 54 wins in 2013-14 and the franchise's first playoff series victory since 2000. The Blazers posted the league's fifth-best offense this season and both LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard made the All-Star team.

Stotts holds a career record of 202-245 (.452), having made previous head coaching stops with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks. He finished sixth in the 2014 Coach of the Year voting.

Stotts offered these thoughts about the 2013-14 season following a Game 5 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night...

I think we've had a very good year. I think this was a special year. It was a special year. We weren't expected to be in the position that we were in the regular season. We weren't expected to win the first round. It was a special year. I thought every one of our starters had career years. The young guys got better. We fought through adversity during the season, made a strong push at the end of the year. There were so many positives about this season.

One of the tough things about losing in the playoffs is that you end on a loss. I think it's important to look back on what we were able to accomplish this year. We got a taste of the playoffs, a taste of success and it's something we can build on going into next season.

I don't know about personal [gratification], but as a coach when the team plays well, you guys have career years, you see a group, a young team come together and exceed expectations, I don't know if it's necessarily personal satisfaction but as a coach you want the team to do well. You feel good for the organization and the team. Obviously I want to do my job and do it well. It's more gratification for the team than personal gratification.

Thanks to T*Stroyer and SKK in the FanShots for getting there first.

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