Following their heart-breaking game seven loss to the Brooklyn Nets, the Toronto Raptors are now in off-season mode, and its an important one for the franchise. Coming into the off-season, most analysts and fans felt that general manager Masai Ujiri had to re-sign three people in the organization with expiring contracts, in order for the Raptors to continue to build upon what was a breakthrough 2013-14 season.
Those three men with expiring deals are point guard Kyle Lowry, power forward Patrick Patterson, and head coach Dwane Casey.
Little over 24 hours after the end of the Raptors season, Ujiri has started down the path of finding new contracts for these three, as the team has agreed on a new three-year deal with Dwane Casey.
The 57-year-old has coached the Raptors for three years. This season he led them to an Atlantic Division title, the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference, and 48 wins. The 48 wins are a franchise record.
Following the season, Casey received big praise from his players, and its obvious that they want him back.
“He’s been a great coach,” sophomore Terrence Ross said Monday. “He’s helped me with a lot. He’s taught me a lot, especially when it comes to defence. I give him a lot of credit for how I play on the court.”
“One thing I respect about coach Casey, man, he’s been consistent,” DeRozan added. “He’s been the same Dwane Casey since he’s been here, preached the same thing, told us to stick with the same principles and they’ll work. We did it, and everything he said came together like he said it would.”
“You could go in his office, knock on his door, talk to him whenever, you could text him,” he continued. “He’s a player’s coach. He’s a great dude. Sometimes you don’t even look at him like a coach because you could go up to him and talk to Dwane about any situation. I think that’s what helped us a lot.”
It will be interesting to see if re-signing Casey will help Ujiri in the coming negotiations with Kyle Lowry. Lowry is clearly a fan of Casey, and played the best basketball of his career under the coach’s system.
“I think he’ll be back,” said Kyle Lowry, an unrestricted free agent. “Simple as that. Matter of fact, I’m sure he’ll be back.”
Ujiri and Casey are scheduled to meet with the media on Tuesday.
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