Kerr shakes up Warriors coaching staff with two veteran additions originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Warriors coach Steve Kerr came in last week with two vacancies on his staff. Both were officially filled Monday, with the arrival of veteran coach Terry Stotts and former NBA All-Star Jerry Stackhouse to Golden State.
Both are expected to join Kerr on the front bench, with Kris Weems remaining on the staff and taking the third and final spot, according to multiple sources around the league. Weems was promoted to the front bench last summer after Jama Mahlalela took a job with the Toronto Raptors.
The additions move longtime assistant Bruce “Q” Fraser, best known for his close ties to team superstar Stephen Curry, back to the second bench after three seasons in attack.
Stotts, 66, brings 13 years of head coaching experience to the team, including the last nine seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. After two seasons away from the NBA, he returned last summer as an assistant to first-year coach Adrian Griffin with the Milwaukee Bucks. Disagreements between the two led to Stotts resigning a week before the season opener.
Stotts effectively takes over the chief assistant role that was vacated last week when Kenny Atkinson accepted the job as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Stackhouse, 49, is a two-time All-Star who became a coach after retiring in 2013. He coached for three seasons with the Raptors, the last two as head coach of their G League team. He then spent a year (2018-19) as an assistant to J.B. Bickerstaff with the Memphis Grizzlies before leaving to become head coach at Vanderbilt. He spent five seasons with the Commodores but was fired after they finished 9-23 last season.
Stackhouse’s spot on the staff was created by the sudden death of assistant Dejan “Deki” Milojevic in February. Milojevic, who worked almost exclusively with Golden State’s big men, was one of the assistants on the back bench.
Kerr initially did not expect any major changes to the staff, but when it became clear that Atkinson would be leaving, he decided to go with two coaches who already had experience as head coaches.
Given Stotts’ wealth of experience and Stackhouse’s strong-willed nature, the general consensus is that the Warriors need a stronger staff next season.
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