After weeks of speculation, the Toronto Raptors have confirmed that Dwayne Casey will remain the Head Coach of the Basketball team in 2013. The organization released the following statement this afternoon.
Toronto Raptors President and General Manager, Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri announced Wednesday that Head Coach Dwane Casey will return for the 2013-14 season.
“I’m excited about moving forward and growing this team with Coach Casey,” said Ujiri.
Casey is in the final year of a contract extension signed following the 2011-12 campaign.
An announcement will be made in the future regarding the club’s assistant coaching staff.
Casey is entering the final year of the three year deal he signed to coach the Raptors in 2011. He is known as a defensive specialist, and came to the Raptors after being an assistant coach with the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks. The Raptors have missed the playoffs in both seasons with Casey at the helm, and five in a row overall. The team went 34-48 last season.
While the statement confirms the job security of Casey, it is important to note that the last line of the press release does nothing for his assistants. One can expect Ujiri to shake up the coaching staff in some way, in much the same way he has already made major changes in the Raptors front office since taking over on May 31. Ujiri quickly fired Executive vice-president Ed Stefanski, who had been with the Raptors basically since their founding; and scout Alvin Williams, one of the most popular players to ever suit up for Toronto. Assistant coaches Micah Nori, Eric Hughes, Scott Roth, Johnny Davis and Tom Sterner would be well advised to dust off those resumes and update them in the coming days. It is likely that at least some of them will not be back with the Raptors next season.
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