Just days after being named Coach of the Year by his peers, Dwane Casey was relieved of his duties with the Toronto Raptors. Now, with the offseason on their horizon, the Raptors are reportedly targeting a few qualified replacements for the position, including Nick Nurse, Rex Kalamian and Jerry Stackhouse.
“I get the sense that Nick Nurse is the current favourite for the Raptors job, although Rex Kalamian and Jerry Stackhouse are in the running, among others,” Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports recently reported.
As most hoops fans know, the Raptors played their way to the best record in the Eastern Conference standings this season (59-23) and a No. 1 overall seed. However, Toronto saw their season come to an end earlier this month, as they were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference semifinals.
Toronto's 59 wins in the regular season set a new franchise record.
Whether Nick Nurse, Rex Kalamian or Jerry Stackhouse will indeed be selected remains to be seen. All three prospects have great basketball minds. Let's take a look at all three…
Nurse, now 50 years of age, has an extensive resume. Basically, he worked his way up the ladder, coaching in Europe and the D-League before joining Casey’s staff in Toronto in 2013. Aside from Casey's work with the team, Nurse has received a lot of credit for the improved play of Toronto's offense. As the play-caller for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Houston Rockets affiliate) in 2011, Nurse earned the NBA's D-League Coach of the Year award.
Nurse has been in coaching for 30 years, so he's far from inexperienced. He's a forward, innovative thinker, which I'm told is a prerequisite for the Raptors job. He's widely regarded as one of the NBA's best assistants. If Toronto doesn't hire him, good bet someone else does.
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) May 16, 2018
As Lewenberg reported, Kalamian and Stackhouse are also candidates for the job.
Rex Kalamian has been coaching in some form since 1990. He spent six seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, including the final two as lead assistant for Scott Brooks. Kalamian was hired to serve as an assistant coach by the Raptors in June of 2015, though most fans know him from the nine years he spent with the LA Clippers as a scout and assistant.
Stackhouse — a name most hoops fans know well — played 18 seasons in the NBA. Currently, the two-time All-Star is serving as the head coach of Toronto's G-League affiliate team, Raptors 905. In his first season with 905 (2015-16), “Stack,” as he's came to be known, led the team to the Eastern Conference Finals. In Stack's second season at the helm (2016-17), his squad was crowned as champions of the D-League. As a result, Stackhouse was named NBA D-league Coach of the Year.
Which of these three candidates the Raptors will ultimately choose (if any) remains to be seen. All of them are great prospects, to be sure. For now, be sure to keep your browsers locked on ClutchPoints for more updates on this topic as they become available.
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