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Portland Trail Blazers star Damian
Lillard named Los Angeles Lakers assistant Jason Kidd as his
preferred choice to replace Terry Stotts as the team’s head coach.
“Jason Kidd is the guy I want,” Lillard told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes.
Stotts and the Blazers mutually agreed
to part ways Friday, one day after Portland was eliminated in the
first round of the 2021 NBA playoffs by the Denver Nuggets.
Jason Quick and Shams Charania of The
Athletic reported it’s “believed” the Blazers will “ultimately
decide” between Kidd and Los Angeles Clippers assistant Chauncey
Billups, two former All-Star point guards.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski listed Jeff
Van Gundy, Mike D’Antoni and Juwan Howard among the other candidates
for the vacancy.
Stotts guided Portland to a 402-318
regular-season record and eight playoff appearances across nine
seasons in charge. A 22-40 postseason mark combined with the team’s
inability to build off a trip to the 2019 Western Conference Finals
likely led to his departure. The Blazers were eliminated in the first
round in four of the past five seasons.
“I love Terry,” Lillard told The
Athletic. “And I will miss him as my coach.”
The Blazers couldn’t afford to lose any
more time while the core of Lillard, 30, and CJ McCollum, 29, is in
place and playing at a high level, though. A coaching change and
perhaps one marquee addition during the offseason could help spark a
deeper playoff run next year.
Kidd was a 10-time All-Star and won a
championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011 during his playing
career. He previously served as a head coach with the Brooklyn Nets
and Milwaukee Bucks, posting a 183-190 record with three playoff
appearances in five years between those two stops.
Haynes noted Lillard and Kidd have a “great relationship,” and sources told Yahoo Sports the face of
the Portland franchise “genuinely respects Kidd’s basketball acumen
and knowledge of the game and believes he can help take his game and
the team to the next level.”
The 48-year-old Kidd has been a member of the Lakers’ coaching staff since 2019 and helped
the team capture the 2020 NBA championship.
L.A. sources told Haynes that Kidd has “been a phenomenal presence in the organization from his
innovative ideas to his communicating skills and his ability to rally
the troops.”
The endorsement from Lillard makes him
the immediate favorite to take over the Blazers’ staff.
