Ex-Dallas Mavericks Assistants, Terry Stotts & Dwane Casey Excelling

After winning a championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, Terry Stotts and Dwane Casey are excelling in 2018.

After the Dallas Mavericks won the 2011 NBA Championship, the roster wasn’t the only thing overhauled over the next couple of years.

Three years before that, Rick Carlisle made two big additions to his coaching staff by adding Dwane Casey and Terry Stotts.

Casey spent 13 years in the league coaching with his latest being the head coach of the Timberwolves before coming on Carlisle’s staff for the Mavs in 2008. Casey would spend three years in Dallas that was capped off with a championship in 2011.

For Stotts, it was 14 years in the league and two head coaching stints before he found himself on Carlisle’s staff in 2008. He would spend four years in Dallas that consisted of a championship in his third season in Dallas.

Casey took the head coaching job in Toronto in 2011 and Stotts would become the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers in 2012.

Not only are both coaches still in their respected positions, but both are arguably having their best seasons yet.

The Eastern Conference might not hold the same weight as the West, but they have their share of storylines and stars.

A Kyrie Irving-led Boston Celtics team doesn’t hold the top seed in the East with roughly 20 games left in the regular season. Neither is a John Wall or Bradley Beal-led Washington Wizards team.

Not even LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers sit atop of the East.

It’s Dwane Casey and the Toronto Raptors that sit with the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 43-17 record.

Despite having back-to-back 50+ win seasons, the Raptors have been somewhat stuck as a franchise trying to get over the LeBron James hump in the Eastern Conference playoffs. But this season might be a little different for Casey and the Raptors.

They decided to bring the band back together over the summer by bringing back Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka, but it has been DeMar DeRozan that has taken his game to a new level this season. With a bench unit that is one of the best in the league, Casey is on pace to have his best team yet in Toronto.

Before you think Stotts couldn’t possibly top Casey in the impressive race, he has his own argument in the Western Conference.

After cries from the media and basketball “experts” to break up their star back court of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, Stotts and the Portland brass decided to keep the duo together and make a run for the playoffs this year.

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But making the playoffs might be the least of their regular season accomplishments as their place in the standings could shock people across the league.

Currently, Portland sits with the fourth best record in the West and would have home court advantage if the playoffs ended today. They are tied with the Kawhi Leonard-less Spurs and a half game up on Anthony Davis and the Pelicans.

If the Blazers can finish as the fourth best team in the Western Conference ahead of teams like Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Denver, then Stotts should get some Coach of the Year love from the voters.

Even though Rick Carlisle himself is going through a rough year in Dallas, he should be able to sit back and root for some old friends come the playoffs and feel somewhat responsible for their success as head coaches.

Not only that, but Dwane Casey should be a front-runner as the Coach of the Year if Toronto finishes on top of the Eastern Conference.

Next: Second Round Prospects for the Dallas Mavericks

Next up on Carlisle’s coaching tree…Melvin Hunt.