3 Steve Kerr Head Coach Replacements If He's Not Back with Warriors

For the last 12 seasons, Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green have been constants for the Golden State Warriors.

But with Kerr not under contract for next season, their trio could be down to two.

After the Warriors' play-in game loss to the Suns, Kerr said he'd take some time before making a collaborative decision on his future with team owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr.

If Kerr leaves, here are three replacement candidates.

Terry Stotts

Stotts is the choice that would keep things as similar as possible. He's been working under Kerr since 2024, so he knows the Warriors culture. He's been a head coach for parts of 13 seasons, and that experience should help him level with the Warriors veterans.

Damian Lillard thrived under Stotts' tutelage, so one would think Curry would too.

The biggest issue with Stotts is he's 68, which could make one wonder how he'll hold up for a long season. He feels like a stopgap option until Curry and Green retire, which might be exactly what the Warriors need. Lacob might want to hire a young coach for the next chapter of the Warriors, but that coach wouldn't fit with the current roster.

The other issue is his playoff record is 23-44. It's fair to question how Stotts would do in the playoffs against the best coaches in the league, though it's also fair to say his Blazers teams rarely had the better roster in their playoff matchups.

Jerry Stackhouse

Stackhouse has also been a Warriors assistant since 2024. The 51-year-old has been focusing on defense alongside longtime assistant Ron Adams while Stotts has been focusing on offense.

In his first season as a Golden State assistant, the Warriors ranked seventh in defensive rating. They fell to 17th this season, which was to be expected considering their injuries.

Stackhouse doesn't have NBA head coaching experience, but he did coach the Raptors D-League team and was named D-League Coach of the Year in 2017. He then coached Vanderbilt from 2019 to 2024, which did not go smoothly, as he finished 70-92 in five seasons. In fairness to him, he didn't have the quality of rosters to set him up for success.

Two things working in Stackhouse's favor when comparing him to Stotts are that he's 17 years younger and that he has the ultimate respect of his peers as an 18-year NBA veteran.

Luke Walton

Walton was one of the hottest coaching commodities after serving as Golden State's interim coach for 43 games of the 2015-16 season. Walton guided the Warriors to a 39-4 record in that time.

Green and Curry both had the best season of their career that year.

He parlayed his Warriors success into a head coaching job with the Lakers. He was fired after three seasons before getting hired by the Kings. They fired him in early in his third season.

In all, Walton had a .408 winning percentage with the Lakers and Kings, but keep in mind that for most of his two tenures, he was coaching pretty bad rosters.

Since his Kings stint, he's been an assistant coach with the Cavaliers and Pistons.

The 46-year-old should be a hot commodity again. He has a rare combination of a) respect from his peers after playing 10 years in the NBA b) some head coaching experience and c) recent success as an assistant coach with teams on the rise.

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