The Portland Trail Blazers were a pleasant surprise this season. After losing Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez in free agency, just about every one of the league's pundits predicted a finish near the bottom of the standings in the competitive Western Conference.
Instead, Portland finished as the fifth seed, took out the (very injured) Clippers in the first round of the playoffs, and were more competitive than expected against the historically-great Warriors before being eliminated in the second round.
Blazers head coach Terry Stotts had a team option for next season, but no job security beyond that. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Portland has rightfully rectified the situation.
The Blazers exercised the team option on the final year of Stotts' original contract for the 2016-17 season, and the three-year extension will start in 2017 and run through the 2020 season, league sources said.
Stotts finished second to Golden State's Steve Kerr for NBA Coach of the Year, and has been the head coach in Portland for the past four seasons.
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