Portland Trail Blazers: Should the Blazers look to add another assistant coach?

With only six head coaching vacancies, and talented minds across the Association, should the Portland Trail Blazers consider adding a defensive-minded assistant coach?

Assistant coaches are in a way, a lot like officials. If the average fan is familiar with them, it’s likely either for something exponentially positive — such as the Clippers having at least two reputable head coaching candidates this offseason — or something negative, such as Bill Simmons calling out Avery Johnson for “employing at least 375 assistants” in 2007-08. As it relates to the Trail Blazers, there are question marks centered around how Portland will surround Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

Should we also ponder about who is in Terry Stotts’ ear, too?

The Blazers haven’t quite been the same since losing David Vanterpool, the former NBA point guard who assisted Stotts for seven years, and helped guide Lillard on the venture towards taking his defense to the next level, before signing on to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It’s telling that Lillard referred to the signing as “the day I never wanted to see in my career,” and frequently mentioned Vanterpool as a reason for his improved defense, through film study.

Stotts and Vanterpool’s scheme (dropping bigs, late-pick-and-roll switches, conceding midrange shots, and keeping the rim protector close to the paint) was obviously aided by personnel benefits. Having Al-Farouq Aminu and Moe Harkless on defense is a lot different from having Carmelo Anthony and Mario Hezonja.

Statistically, that much was evident; the Portland Trail Blazers went from allowing just 164 3-pointers from the corner — No. 2 in the NBA, second only to the 76ers in 2018-19 — to allowing a suboptimal 240 corner 3-pointers in 2019-20, after the roster turnover and Vanterpool’s departure.

So then, the question becomes: was their defensive success in 2018-19 more contingent on scheme and personnel, or coach? If it lies somewhere in the middle, the Blazers would be wise to try to further nip both in the bud this offseason. And perhaps the way to go with that would be to take a look at this assistant coaching class.

Akin to everything this franchise does, if they do elect to search for another assistant coach, it’s likely to be an under-the-radar addition. Their pockets won’t run deep enough to be thinking about the hottest of candidates, like Lue or Cassell, and those guys aren’t likely to want to return to an assistant coach role in a new situation anyways.

But, as it stands today, there are only six vacancies for head coaching spots, which means assistants could be at a premium. Here are a few names that stick out, personally, with appreciation for ESPN.com’s Kevin Arnovitz.

Potential Trail Blazers Target No. 1: Pat Delany, Orlando Magic

Any addition that helps the Portland Trail Blazers become more defensively-focused should be entertained. The Orlando Magic’s coaching staff delegates different responsibilities to different coaches. For example, Rick Higgins keeps track of paint touches. Pat Delany has assisted in keeping track of defensive hustle numbers, such as deflections.

Delany, who drew interest from the Knicks earlier this summer, has two things going for him: (1) he’s been present for championship cultures in the past, having worked with the Miami Heat’s coaching staff in the early-2010s, in the LeBron-Wade-Bosh era, and (2) he’s been known to have success with point guards.

There were stretches in Kemba Walker’s run in Charlotte where he made significant strides as a pick-and-roll defender. It’s unclear how much Delany had to do with that, as an assistant coach. But he’s been an overseer to the continued growth of offensively-minded guards.

And more on the note of deflections: we’ve seen what the Blazers were capable of in big games. Only four teams produced fewer deflections than them in the regular season. But once the postseason rolled around, they were much more cognizant of how important attacking passing lanes were, tying for third in the postseason (ironically, No. 1 and 2 are the Lakers and Heat), and No. 4 in the bubble (15.1). He could be a voice for that all season long.

Potential Trail Blazers Target No. 2: Wes Unseld Jr.

The Chicago Bulls, before settling on Billy Donovan, looked to be one of the frontrunners to bring along Wes Unseld Jr., an architect of Denver’s defense. The Nuggets’ defense has been among the bedrocks to having built upon last season’s disappointing Game Seven loss to Portland. They’ve been arguably the No. 2 team in the Western Conference over the last two seasons.

At the outset of the year, they were especially stifling, ranking No. 9 in the NBA in defensive rating heading into the New Year’s. Mike Malone, whose seat is as cool as it gets, has gone in record in saying that Unseld Jr. should be a head coach. And if it’s only a matter of time, perhaps Unseld is moved to go to a place where it would be much easier to unseat. Think Terry Stotts.

Two other names:

Given what we know about this being a player-driven league, it wouldn’t even be out of the ordinary to bring along a player who connects with the guards — think Earl Watson, a more out-of-the-park idea, but reasonable, given his relationship with Lillard and coaching experience — or go full nostalgia with David Adelman.

The 503 For The Fans podcast threw out Nate McMillan’s return possibility, too, if he isn’t focused on taking time off.

In whichever case, the Portland Trail Blazers would be doing themselves a favor to leave no stone unturned. For the sake of the championship window that remains open in having Damian Lillard, it only feels right.