The Toronto Raptors announced on Friday that they had parted ways with their head coach Nick Nurse. The move comes after the Raptors endured a disappointing season that saw them finish with 41-41 and get eliminated in the Play-In tournament.
Nurse is leaving the franchise with whom he spent the previous 10 years. He served as an assistant between 2013 and 2018 before taking on the head coaching role ahead of the 2018-19 NBA season. Nurse led the Raptors to an NBA title in his first season at the helm.
Firing Nurse comes at the point where the Raptors need to decide on the direction the franchise will take in 2023-24 and beyond. The team’s several key players, including Fred VanVleet and Jakob Poeltl, are free agents, while All-Star Pascal Siakam is set for an extension. As currently constructed, the roster doesn’t seem capable of contending, and it will be up to President Masai Ujiri and the new head coach to decide on how to change that.
According to multiple reports, the Raptors identified ex-Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka as the main candidate to replace Nurse. They are also expected to interview Suns’ assistant Patrick Mutombo and Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse.
Nurse, on the other hand, will likely be pursued by most of the NBA teams that end up having a head coaching vacancy in the offseason. The Houston Rockets are believed to have a strong interest in reuniting with Nurse, who previously coached their affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
