Damian Lillard agreed to take 27.5 percent of the salary cap as his max contract if he qualified for the Rose Rule instead of the full 30 percent when he agreed upon his contract extension last offseason with the Portland Trail Blazers.

After making the Third Team last season, Lillard was a Second Team selection this season and therefore qualified for the rule.

Lillard will earn approximately $12.4 million less over his five-year extension by agreeing to take just 27.5 percent.

The Portland Trail Blazers have requested permission of the Charlotte Hornets to interview Stephen Silas.

Silas is a candidate for the head coaching job of the Houston Rockets as well as the top assistant job of the Golden State Warriors.

The Blazers could lose assistant coach Nate Tibbetts to the Warriors.

The Golden State Warriors will interview Nate Tibbetts as a candidate to become their top assistant coach.

The Warriors are looking for a replacement for Luke Walton.

Stephen Silas is also as serious candidate for the job.

Tibbetts and Silas traveled to Oklahoma City to meet with Warriors officials on Monday night. 

Tibbetts has been an assistant with the Blazers since 2013 under Terry Stotts. Before a two-year stop with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tibbetts was head coach of the NBA Development League’s Tulsa 66ers for two seasons.

Nate Tibbetts interviewed for the Memphis Grizzlies' head coaching vacancy on Wednesday.

Tibbetts is an assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers and was previously with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Grizzlies are searching for a new head coach after firing Dave Joerger.

Terry Stotts and the Portland Trail Blazers have agreed upon a contract extension.

The Blazers owned a team option on Stotts' contract.

Stotts finished second in Coach of the Year voting behind Steve Kerr with the Blazers' surprisingly successful season after losing four starters in the 2015 offseason.

ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz reports the deal is for three seasons and approximately $15 million.

The Memphis Grizzlies have received permission to interview Nate Tibbetts of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Tibbetts is a well-respected and innovative young coach who was once an assistant for the Cleveland Cavaliers for two seasons beginning in 2011. 

Tibbetts was previously a head coach in the D-League with the Tulsa 66ers.

Tibbetts is held in high regard by the likes of Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters.

With the Portland Trail Blazers eliminated from the playoffs, they will begin working on a contract extension with Terry Stotts.

The Blazers hold a team option on Stotts' contract for the 16-17 season.

Stotts has compiled a record of 182-146 during his four seasons with the Blazers, and the team has qualified for the playoffs each of the past three seasons.

Stotts finished a close second to Steve Kerr in the NBA's coach of the year vote.

After the Golden State Warriors went up 3-1 against the Portland Trail Blazers, Draymond Green was asked if he thinks the Blazers were done.

"Do I think they're done? Of course I think they're done," he said.

"If I don't think they're done, I don't know who else is going to think it," he continued. "We're going home with a 3-1 lead. It's up to us to close it out. And I trust my teammates, I trust our team to come out ready to go and close this series out. Of course I think they're done. It's time for us to close the series. We did what we needed to do; we came on the road and got one win. We took care of home court. Now it's time for us to do it again." 

Damian Lillard said before Green's remarks that they aren't done fighting.

"We want to go out there and make sure they respect us, make sure they understand it's not going to be what everybody thinks it's going to be," Lillard said. "It's not going to be no rolling over, it's not going to be no out here being scared, it's not going to be any of that."

Green said he's fine giving the Blazers extra motivation.

"I wanted to give them bulletin-board material," he said.

The Portland Trail Blazers believe the culture they have built with Damian Lillard at the center of it will attract free agents.

"Players start with, 'I want to go to a playoff team,'" Neil Olshey says. "And while everyone knew that Damian was a foundational player, it was very hard to prove it last offseason. And I think the fact that now, making the second round of the playoffs is critical."

Lillard hopes free agents sign with the Blazers for what they see and not from what they hear during a recruitment.

"As far as recruitment, I never see myself getting overly involved with it," Lillard says. "In free agency, people will ultimately make their own decisions. But I have thought about the fact that what our culture is here, what people see here, that will attract people."

Lillard's extracurricular training retreat last summer in San Diego is also well documented.

"I'm not saying I won't say anything to people, but I'm not going to go completely out of my way," Lillard said. "I'll talk to a guy and be like: 'This is what we do here. This is how you can help.' I would express about what I think they could do, how they could help, what we could be with them, things like that -- why I think it would be good for them, why I think it would be good for our team. I could see myself doing that."

"He doesn't put himself above the team or above other players," CJ McCollum said. "He's not taking Uber to games instead of arriving with the team. He just works hard. He treats the rookies like he treats vets. He never demoralizes people and doesn't talk down to them. It's rare you see a player of his caliber so humble, so laid back. He's caring."

Damian Lillard had 40 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in the Portland Trail Blazers' Game 3 win over the Golden State Warriors.

“He’s a lot like Steph,” said Kerr.

Lillard has previously said he doesn't like being compared to Curry.

“I didn’t think it was on me to go win the game or anything,” Lillard said. “But I did think it was my job to come out and be aggressive from the start. A lot of times, the team will go as I go.”