No. 1 Cavs coaching candidate: Terry Stotts
If Cleveland is looking for the most experienced coach out there with plenty of playoff experience and working with star-studded backcourts like the Cavs currently have in Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland then look no further than Terry Stotts.
Stotts took his former team, the Portland Trailblazers to the playoffs eight straight times and got them to the Western Conference Finals once. His star backcourt then of Damian Lillard and CJ. McCollum is similar to Mitchell and Garland now with the Cavs.
While some are suggesting that Garland will want out of Cleveland if the Cavs give Mitchell an extension, bringing in an experienced head coach like Stotts could change Garland's mind about wanting to leave. Even if Garland were to demand a trade with a Mitchell extension, the offensive-minded Stotts would still have Mitchell to help mold into something even more special.
The knock on Stotts is that he wasn't able to take his former teams much farther than the first round or two in the playoffs. He has a 517-486 record with him as a head coach which shows a coach with consistent winning ways. Stotts might not have any NBA Finals appearances yet, but he would have a strong chance as the coach for the Cavs.
Stotts has been out of the league since the fall when he resigned right before the season started. He had been hired on as an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks and was reunited with his former star Damian Lillard who made the move to the Bucks after years with the Trailblazers. Would the 66-year-old Sttotts even consider a move back to being a head coach?
If he were considering a return to the league, then the Cleveland Cavaliers would be a favorable option. The Cavs need a coach with a lot of head coaching experience, especially one that has postseason experience. Terry Stotts would likely slide into a role with his wealth of knowledge and time in the NBA coaching world.