Trail Blazers Announce Terry Stotts As Next Head Coach

“I’m very pleased to be a part of a great franchise in a beautiful city with such a proud history,” Stotts said. “I look forward to working hard with Neil and our players toward the ultimate goal of bringing another championship to Portland.”

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This was a pretty lengthy process to settle on their in-house guy and a veteran like Stotts, but at least Portland seems to have done its due diligence.

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Unless you’re an NBA reporter or spend your nights sifting through coaching staff lists from around the league, it’s likely that none of these names stick out.

But the team could decide to promote from within, turning to the 34-year-old Canales who has risen from team video intern in 2005 to assistant head coach in 2010 and dabbled in head coaching experience to close out this past season and while out in Vegas for the NBA’s Rookie Summer League.

And there were quite a few candidates being interviewed, too.

New general manager Neil Olshey was in town to talk to as many potential coaches as possible and, according to the Oregonian, those candidates come from all over the NBA.

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The world will find out if that upheaval will also extend to the coaching staff next week, as the Blazers plan to interview candidates for the head coaching position currently being held down by interim coach Kaleb Canales. Canales is still in the running to keep his job, but The Oregonian’s Jason Quick reports that Olshey plans to interview candidates in Vegas at the NBA Summer League.

For now, Canales will serve as the team’s head coach in Vegas with former NBA players Dan Dickau and Hersey Hawkins serving as his assistants.

The team won’t make it a public affair, though -- perhaps learning from the Charlotte Bobcats -- as Olshey told The Columbian at pre-draft workouts this week that the search will take place behind closed doors.

There are quite a few qualified candidates out there, but if Olshey’s going to stay tight-lipped on the process, this search might be difficult to follow until they’ve found their finalist.

For more on the Blazers, head to Blazers Edge. For more on the Clippers, visit Clips Nation and SB Nation Los Angeles.

Neil Olshey is getting a few things from his sudden move from the L.A. Clippers to the Portland Trail Blazers, where he will serve as the first permanent general manager since Rich Cho was unceremoniously dismissed 11 months into his tenure a year ago. He’s stunningly getting less stability, as if that were possible.

The circumstances around Olshey’s promotion to GM of the Clippers in 2010 were odd -- Mike Dunleavy was relieved of his post via press release during halftime of a forgettable game for lottery-bound L.A. soon after stepping down as coach. But at least Dunleavy had had a few years to work out the kinks; Cho was, by most accounts, doing a fine job when Blazers owner Paul Allen dismissed him less than a year into his tenure.

Blazers owner Paul Allen, who was reportedly at the center of a conflict that led to former Portland GM Rich Cho being forced out in the 2011 offseason, really seems to like Olshey.

”He has the skills and the vision to successfully guide our organization into a new era of Trail Blazers basketball. He’s proven that he can quickly turn around a franchise, and we are confident he can do that in Portland.“Olshey’s turnaround in Los Angeles took the Clippers from having the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft to winning a postseason series for just the second time in franchise history in the 2011-12 season.

Olshey and the Clippers had previously agreed in principle on a contract extension that would have kept him as Los Angeles’ vice president of basketball operations and general manager, but the Clippers say they and Olshey “mutually agreed to end discussions concerning Olshey’s future with the team.”

Arnovitz reports that Olshey will be offered the general manager position by Portland. Olshey had previously met with the Trail Blazers in London, and was reportedly a finalist to become Portland’s first big-name GM since Rich Cho was released in the 2011 offseason.

In short, Olshey is the man that made Lob City a reality.

But despite deciding on key personnel moves since becoming the team’s general manager -- moves that saw the franchise advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs for just the second time in history -- Olshey is not currently under contract by the Clippers for next season. Based on his recent work and age, he’d be an appealing acquisition by Allen.

Why oh why?

From the great NetsDaily (emphasis is mine):

But by the time the draft rolls around in three months, the Blazers may not have a coach or a general manager. (Head scout Chad Buchanan has been running the show on an interim basis.) From Ben Golliver of Blazer’s Edge, who tuned into what Blazers president Larry Miller had to say:

Makes sense. After all, the Blazers have been without a GM for almost a year. You don’t really need a coach until training camp next October. Might as well take your time and let the interim staff handle everything.

Oden, the first overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, has spent the better part of his career dealing with injuries. He is out for this season after having microfracture surgery on his left knee back in February. Oden has not played in a game since Dec. 5, 2009.

Oden was signed to a one-year deal prior to this season.

Crawford was included in the most rumors and was supposedly involved in a deadline deal that fell through. The Blazers simply couldn’t find any takers for Felton.

The Rockets had been pursuing Camby for a long while and Houston was reportedly Camby’s preference of destinations should he be traded. Camby is averaging six points and over 14 rebounds per 36 minutes this season, his 16th in the league.

It’s clear the New Jersey Nets are trying to surround Deron Williams with talent, hoping he won’t opt out of the final year of his contract this summer.

Wallace is averaging 13.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, which are his lowest totals in several years.

Wallace is having a bit of a down year, averaging 13.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, his lowest totals in years.