Damian Lillard wants Blazers to hire Jason Kidd after Terry Stotts' departure
On the day Terry Stotts was leaving, Damian Lillard offered his opinion on who should be arriving.
"[He's] the guy I want," Lillard told Yahoo's Chris B. Haynes of Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Jason Kidd.
The Portland Trail Blazers experienced another disappointing playoff defeat on Thursday, losing their first-round series in six games to the Denver Nuggets, who were without star point guard Jamal Murray and scoring dynamo Will Barton.
After the loss, Lillard – the Blazers' all-world point guard – was visibly frustrated with Portland's efforts.
"I mean, we didn't win a championship, so obviously where we are now isn't good enough," he said. "I don't know what a shakeup looks like or what changes will be made or could be made, but obviously as is, it wasn't good enough. We came up short against a team without their starting point guard and shooting guard.
"Obviously, where we are isn’t good enough to win a championship if it’s not good enough to get out of a first-round series with two of their best three or four players not on the floor."
That's both an honest and tough criticism from a franchise's superstar cornerstone, and on Friday, the shakeup Lillard mentioned got underway, when Portland moved on from head coach Terry Stotts.
Stotts spent nine seasons as the head coach of the Blazers, guiding Portland to the playoffs in the final eight.
However, his team lost in the first round five times – including two first-round sweeps in 2016-17 and 2017-18 – and Portland registered a 23-44 postseason record under Stotts, making it to the Western Conference finals only once, when it was swept by the Golden State Warriors in 2018-19.
Now that Stotts is out, Lillard has made it clear whom he wants – and according to multiple reports, he might get his wish.
However, the competition for Kidd's services looks to be stiff, as Kidd will interview for the recently vacant head-coaching job with the Boston Celtics as well.
Kidd is best known for his Hall of Fame playing career, which spanned 19 seasons. After being selected second in the 1994 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks, Kidd led the NBA in triple-doubles as a rookie and was named co-Rookie of the Year alongside the Detroit Pistons' Grant Hill.
Kidd went on to be a 10-time NBA All-Star, five-time NBA assists leader and five-time All-NBA First Team selection, and he won a championship with the Mavericks in 2011.
His NBA coaching career began in 2013, when he took over at the helm of the Brooklyn Nets, helping guide a team that featured Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Joe Johnson and Deron Williams to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, where they fell to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in five games.
After that season, Kidd was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks – yes, you can trade coaches – for two future second-round picks. With the Bucks, Kidd found little success, qualifying for the playoffs twice in his first three seasons but failing to win a postseason series before being fired 45 games into his fourth season.
He did, however, develop a strong rapport with then-budding and now-current Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Most recently, Kidd has served as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers the past two seasons, winning his second title – this time as a coach – last season in the Orlando bubble.
The chips figure to fall in place sometime this week, as NBA coaching hires tend to happen quickly.
In other words, we'll see if Lillard's influence lands Kidd on the Blazers' block sooner rather than later.
For more up-to-date news on all things Blazers, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!