Toronto fired Nick Nurse on Friday after the team’s loss in the play-in tournament last week, but the 2019 NBA champion-winning coach shouldn’t be out of a job for long.
Reports already surfaced moments after his firing became public that he plans to interview for the open Houston Rockets job. Houston fired Stephen Silas after he went 59-177 (.250) in three seasons.
Nurse has a career record of 227-163 (.582) and in addition to that 2019 NBA title, he also was named Coach of the Year the following season after the Raptors went 53-19 in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season.
Toronto’s next head coach has a tough act to follow, but it’s not as though Nurse was following a scrub, either. Dwane Casey was fired as Raptors head coach the same season he received Coach of the Year honors in 2017-18.
Not only does the Raptors’ next head coach have the runs by Casey and Nurse to live up to, but they’ll also have to contend with a front office that’s hard to please. If winning championships and being identified as the best coach in the league isn’t enough, we’re not sure what is.
That’s a problem for Toronto, not Nurse. He’s a proven winner and will land on his feet in no time. If not the Rockets, he could follow Casey’s path to Detroit. The former Pistons head coach agreed to step down after this season as he took a position in the front office.
Other teams could enter the conversation as the playoffs unfold and Nurse should be at the top of all of their lists. Then again, he shouldn’t be on the market at all.
