Warriors coach Steve Kerr entered last week with two vacancies on his staff. Both vacancies were officially filled on Monday, with veteran coach Terry Stotts and former NBA All-Star player Jerry Stackhouse joining Golden State.
According to multiple league sources, the two are expected to join Kerr on the front bench, while Chris Weems will remain on staff and fill the third and final spot. Weems was promoted to the front bench last summer after Jama Mahlela took a job with the Toronto Raptors.
Among these additions is long-time assistant Bruce “Q” Fraser, known primarily for his close relationship with the team's superstar Stephen Curry, who has returned to the second bench after being with the team for three seasons.
Stotts, 66, has 13 years of head coaching experience, most recently playing 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. Differences between the two led to Stotts resigning a week before the season began.
Stotts effectively steps into the top assistant role, which was vacated last week after Kenny Atkinson accepted the position as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Stackhouse, 49, is a two-time All-Star who got into coaching after retiring in 2013. He spent three seasons coaching with the Raptors, the last two as the 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 becoming the head coach at Vanderbilt. He spent five seasons with the Commodores but was fired after going 9-23 last season.
Stackhouse was added to the staff following the sudden death of assistant Dejan “Deki” Milojevic in February. Milojevic, who worked almost exclusively with Golden State's big players, was one of the assistants on the back bench.
Kerr initially did not expect to make major staff changes, but when it became clear Atkinson would leave the team he decided to go with two coaches who already had head coaching experience.
Given Stotts’ deep reservoir of experience and Stackhouse’s strong-willed demeanor, the consensus is that the Warriors should have a much stronger staff next season.
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