All that's left now is for the big guy to make a decision.
And then, finally, the Portland Trail Blazers will have a head coach for the 2012-13 NBA season.
The Oregonian newspaper reported on Friday that team owner Paul Allen had interviewed the two finalists to become Portland's next head coach -- current interim coach Kaleb Canales and Dallas Mavericks assistant Terry Stotts. Allen apparently met with both candidates in London, where he and his yacht are hanging out for the Olympics.
New general manager Neil Olshey has been officially interviewing candidates for more than a month, and even before he embarked on those interviews, he had offered the job to former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, who declined. He'd also spoken with Phil Jackson about the position, but the former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers coach wasn't interested.
So in a summer of big, important moves for the franchise, we're left with one of the bigger, more important ones at the end. About three months away from the start of Portland's 2012-13 preseason, the team might actually have a head coach.
As in, any day now.
The Blazers haven't given any indication which way they'll go, and although Allen will ultimately have the final say, he'll no doubt spend some time talking things over with Olshey before making the call. After letting it drag on this long -- the team fired Nate McMillan in March -- a few days of deliberations aren't going to hurt anything.
Allen's decision comes down to experience vs. potential. Stotts is a well-respected assistant with 17 years' coaching experience in the NBA. Meaning, the 54-year-old Stotts has been a coach in the league half as long as the 34-year-old Canales has been alive.
Stotts has also spent two stints as a head coach, and he has a glowing recommendation from current Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle.
Canales is the players' choice, with All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge having been his most outspoken supporter this offseason.
There's no telling, at this point, which way Allen will go. But at least we're finally at the final stage, awaiting nothing else but word from the owner.
Source:
Trail Blazers coaching search in final stage after Paul Allen interviews Stotts, Canales
--
Adam Sparks has followed the Portland Trail Blazers since the early 1980s, and has written about the team as a freelancer since 2009.
