NFL
By: Greg Rector
I must say the news of the Toronto Raptors firing head coach Nick Nurse comes as a bit of a surprise. After a part of the organization for ten seasons and of course, having won an NBA title in 2019 as the Toronto Raptors head coach I had thought when Nurse was musing about his future earlier this month that the organization would let Nurse decide what he wanted to do.
Instead, Masai Ujuri announced Nurse’s firing today. After five seasons as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors and a 227-163 record along with that 2019 NBA championship, Nurse is on the unemployment line. I had written at various times this past season there was something not right with Nurse this season. I guess that the Toronto Raptors Chairman and President Masai Ujuri felt the time was now for the change to happen.
The Future For Nurse
Nick Nurse won’t be unemployed for long and there will be plenty of suitors for his services. Obviously, the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons who relived their coaches earlier would top that list though I doubt Detroit who retained Dwayne Casey in the organization will have that much interest in Nurse as there is bad blood between the two since Casey’s firing by the Toronto Raptors and Nurse being hired to replace him.
Nick Nurse as of now has a coaching gig with Team Canada’s men’s national team as well. That is something he has been solidly committed to and knowing Nurse he will stay on in that role despite no longer coaching Canada’s lone NBA team.
Outside of Houston, I believe teams like Washington and many other organizations may certainly look at Nurse as their next head coach as well. Especially teams that might have less-than-expected playoff results as well.
Raptors Coaching Candidates
The first name being bandied about and it has been for a while is former Celtics head coach Ime Udoka. That would come with some backlash as his previous personal issues still aren’t sitting well with some. As a basketball coach, Udoka makes a fine candidate.
For me though the leading candidate just might be current Toronto Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin. Griffin was the lead assistant and on nights when Nurse would be ejected Griffin was in charge. He is highly regarded by the organization and most importantly the players. There will be others of course but Udoka and Griffin are certainly the most likely candidates to replace Nick Nurse at this point.
Masai Ujuri and Bobby Webster have made the first big decision for the future direction of the Toronto Raptors. Now on to a very busy off-season in hiring a new coaching regime and then making the decisions on who stays and who goes from the roster along with the NBA draft. This will be an off-season filled with news for the Toronto Raptors and fans of We The North.
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