11:35pm: Portland picked up its 2014/15 option on Stotts and added two years to the deal, the last of which is a team option for the 2016/17 season, reports Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. That conflicts with Wojnarowski’s initial report that the team would decline next year’s option in favor of an entirely new contract.
5:08pm: The Blazers have signed Stotts to a multiyear contract extension, according to a team release. No terms of the deal have been released.
2:14pm: The Blazers have held off on exercising the 2014/15 option on their contract with coach Terry Stotts, but they’re close to an agreement on a new multiyear contract that will wipe out the option season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. GM Neil Olshey opposes the idea of negotiating during the season, but as Portland made strides this year, concern grew among the Blazers staff and seemingly with Stotts himself as his fate for next season remained unresolved. There was speculation that his future would hinge on the team’s success in the playoffs, but an appearance in the second round left little doubt that Stotts would be sticking around, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote earlier today.
Stotts had a rough start in Portland after the Blazers hired him two years ago, inheriting a team that had taken a step back, and he managed just a 33-49 record in 2012/13. The Blazers used a strong start to surge to 54-28 this season, earning the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoffs and a first-round date with the Rockets, whom they dispatched in six games before falling to San Antonio in round two. The resurgence helped solidify the team’s shaky relationship with LaMarcus Aldridge, who’s considering an extension with the club as he nears his 2015 free agency.
The client of coaching super-agent Warren LeGarie has also overseen the development of Damian Lillard, who won Rookie of the Year last season and took a step forward in year two, with his series-clinching three-pointer against Houston a defining moment. This past season was by far the best in Stotts’ six-year head coaching career, as it was the first time he’d piloted a team to a winning record.