{"id":49841,"date":"2023-04-22T08:00:31","date_gmt":"2023-04-22T12:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=49841"},"modified":"2023-04-21T21:06:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-22T01:06:46","slug":"toronto-raptors-fire-head-coach-nick-nurse-who-could-replace-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/04\/22\/toronto-raptors-fire-head-coach-nick-nurse-who-could-replace-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Raptors Fire Head Coach Nick Nurse. Who Could Replace Him?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nick Nurse<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/36253230\/nick-nurse-raptors-coach-sources-say\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has been fired as head coach<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/raptors\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toronto Raptors<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, per <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adrian Wojnarowski<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Nurse had one year remaining on his contract worth $8 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Nick Nurse is out as Raptors coach, sources tell ESPN. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HEKwTAdfUH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/HEKwTAdfUH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1649407212857487361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 21, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nurse spent <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/nurseni01c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">five seasons as Toronto\u2019s head coach<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, compiling a 227-163 record. He memorably led the Raptors to a title in his first campaign after replacing Dwane Casey, and won Coach of the Year the following season as Toronto overachieved despite losing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2022\/11\/19\/be-patient-with-kawhi-leonard\/\" target=\"_self\"><b>Kawhi Leonard<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greenda02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Danny Green<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in free agency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nurse immediately becomes the biggest-name coaching free agent available. Where do the Raptors go from here?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Toronto Raptors Fire Head Coach Nick Nurse. Who Could Replace Him?<\/h2>\n<h3><b>Nick Nurse\u2019s History with the Toronto Raptors<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nurse\u2019s resume includes two D-League championships (before Gatorade\u2019s sponsorship forced the \u201cG-League\u201d rebrand) with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He spent five years as an assistant in Toronto under Dwane Casey. Nurse took over after Casey\u2019s firing and won Toronto a championship in 2019 after Masai Ujiri traded for Leonard. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nick Nurse won Coach of the Year honors the following season, and oversaw an organization-approved tanking effort in 2020-2021. The losing turned into <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/barnesc01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Scottie Barnes<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 selection in the 2021 draft. Since then, however, Toronto has had two discouraging postseason exits. They bowed out meekly to a hobbled <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/embiijo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Joel Embiid<\/b><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/76ers\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Philadelphia 76ers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> last year, and this year lost their play-in game at home against the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Z-55FwuUDMQ\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Diar and<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/derozde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>DeMar DeRozan<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-led <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/bulls\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chicago Bulls<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps this outcome shouldn\u2019t be a surprise after Nurse himself said he needed time to \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/36021263\/raptors-nick-nurse-wants-see-where-season\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">see where I\u2019m at<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d after the season. Management gave the roster a vote of confidence at the trade deadline by keeping all of Toronto\u2019s rotation players and bringing back former Raptor <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/poeltja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Jakob Poeltl<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Toronto\u2019s ninth-seed finish and play-in dismissal couldn\u2019t have been what Ujiri and Co. had in mind for this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nurse\u2019s final thoughts on the Raptors\u2019 roster were \u201cgood luck with those guys.\u201d It appears this breakup was necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">nick nurse said good luck with those guys LMFAO\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WEEml3IqQZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/WEEml3IqQZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \ud83d\udc86\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2642\ufe0f (@godspeedbrother) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/godspeedbrother\/status\/1649437873421123584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 21, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><b>Toronto Raptors\u2019 Internal Coaching Candidates<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nurse will have no shortage of opportunities if he wants to coach again next season. Wojnarowski has made it clear that the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/rockets\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Houston Rockets<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have been interested in Nurse since at least April 9th.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">ESPN Sources: Among the prominent candidates in the Rockets&#39; search will be former Celtics coach Ime Udoka, Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson and former Lakers coach Frank Vogel. If Raptors coach Nick Nurse becomes available, he&#39;ll be a serious consideration too.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1645145771015061506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 9, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nick Nurse will be in demand, but who will Ujiri tap to replace him? Nurse is Ujiri\u2019s only coaching hire in Toronto, as Casey predated him as head coach. If Ujiri again decides to elevate one of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/basketball.realgm.com\/nba\/teams\/Toronto-Raptors\/28\/staff-members\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toronto\u2019s assistant coaches<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/griffad01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Adrian Griffin<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/watsoea01c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Earl Watson<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> could be the top candidates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Griffin has recently been a candidate for head coaching jobs with the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/raptors\/news\/toronto-raptors-los-angeles-lakers-interview-adrian-griffin-nick-nurse-assistant-coach\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/nba\/article\/report-pistons-to-interview-raptors-adrian-griffin-for-head-coaching-job\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Detroit Pistons<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/texas-sports-nation\/rockets\/article\/rockets-get-permission-interview-kenny-atkinson-17891301.php\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Houston Rockets<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bulletsforever.com\/2021\/7\/13\/22575913\/adrian-griffin-washington-wizards-head-coach-vacancy-interview\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Washington Wizards<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, among other teams. Griffin was Nurse\u2019s replacement this season when he <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tsn.ca\/toronto-raptors-adrian-griffin-to-be-acting-head-coach-vs-detroit-pistons-1.1918304\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">missed time due to personal reasons<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; perhaps Ujiri could tap him as a permanent replacement. Watson spent essentially 1.5 seasons as the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/suns\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phoenix Suns<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 head coach. He held the top job for the full 2016-17 season after coaching 33 games the previous season as an interim. The Suns fired Watson after just three games during the 2017-18 season. Watson\u2019s record was 33-85 while coaching undertalented Suns squads, but is often credited with helping develop <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2022\/10\/04\/top-nba-players-2022-23-11-devin-booker\/\" target=\"_self\"><b>Devin Booker<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. If Ujiri chooses to rebuild around Barnes, Watson could be the answer.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Toronto Raptors\u2019 External Coaching Candidates<\/b><\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI did not enjoy watching this team play. That spoke loud and clear to everything that went on this year. It bothered all of us. It bothered coach too\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JustEsBaraheni\/status\/1649431397310816258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 21, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wojnarowski has already mentioned that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/36253230\/nick-nurse-raptors-coach-sources-say\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ime Udoka<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the embattled former coach of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/celtics\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Boston Celtics<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, is a candidate to replace Nurse in Toronto. Udoka was <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fired by the Celtics<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> after having an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/34697560\/sources-investigation-found-boston-celtics-coach-ime-udoka-used-crude-language-dialogue-female-subordinate-prior-start-improper-relationship\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">affair with a subordinate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that was uncovered before the start of the season. Experts agree that the power dynamics mean <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rainn.org\/articles\/what-is-consent\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">consent cannot be given in a relationship<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like Udoka\u2019s, making Toronto\u2019s interest in hiring him both disturbing and disappointing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other candidates could include Frank Vogel, whose defensive background could help after Toronto finished a disappointing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cleaningtheglass.com\/stats\/league\/summary\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">14th in defense<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> this season. That needs to be higher given the Raptors\u2019 collective size, athleticism, and shooting deficiencies. Mike D\u2019Antoni, currently a consultant with the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/pelicans\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Orleans Pelicans<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, could be an intriguing hire as well. D\u2019Antoni is 71 and may not want the grind of being an NBA head coach. His offensive mind is unassailable, however, and the right assistant (like Jeff Bzdelik, who coached with D\u2019Antoni in Houston) can help bring Toronto\u2019s defense along.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This could also be the first step toward major upheaval in Toronto. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vanvlfr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Fred VanVleet<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/trentga02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Gary Trent Jr.<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> both have <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/nba\/toronto-raptors\/cap\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">player options<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and can become free agents this offseason. If one or both aren\u2019t retained, Ujiri could be swayed to trade <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/siakapa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Pascal Siakim<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anunoog01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>OG Anunoby<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and start a rebuild centered around Barnes, young players, and picks. Nurse\u2019s firing has set the Raptors\u2019 intriguing offseason in motion. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nick Nurse has been fired as head coach of the Toronto Raptors, per Adrian Wojnarowski. Nurse had one year remaining on his contract worth $8 million. Nurse spent five seasons as Toronto\u2019s head coach, compiling a 227-163 record. He memorably led the Raptors to a title in his first campaign after replacing Dwane Casey, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4175,"featured_media":49842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,2,62],"tags":[4774,1612],"class_list":["post-49841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-raptors","category-featured","category-nba","tag-rumors","tag-nick-nurse"],"modified_by":"Zach Kircher","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}