The firing of this season’s coach of the year came as a shock to most. However, being eliminated again by LeBron James may have made the decision easier than you think.
There’s no doubt Dwane Casey will get another head coaching job because he is a good coach. Regardless if you believe, like some analysts, that Brad Stevens should of received the coach of year, he’s kept this team in the top four in the east conference with King James. Granted, James is the best player in the league but Casey’s mismatching and game decisions were crucial this time around.
After the news, Casey said, “It’s part of the business. I’m a big boy. I’ve been through it. I know what we’ve accomplished and how the basketball world respects what we’re doing. It’s part of the territory. I accept it. I’m not running from it. … I’m an easy target … I don’t feel sorry for myself, let’s put it that way” per NBA.com.
Guard Kyle Lowry has clashed with Casey over the years and said today per ESPN, “They made a decision — and for me, as a leader in the organization — it’s my job to support the decision that Masai Ujiri and Bobby made”.
Raptors president Ujiri said, “As a team, we are constantly trying to grow and improve in order to get to the next level”. To grow, they need to beat James and not just in the regular season. If James remains on the east coast, they will have to take a different approach. ESPN claims that former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer is close to signing with the Raptors, but he almost met with the Bucks earlier this week.
Raptors cannot stop there.
Was it fair to Casey even though Ujiri hasn’t signed any game-changing players along side Lowry and DeMar DeRozan? Or maybe they don’t mix like Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant? Both of their numbers dropped in the playoffs compared to the regular season. Lowry dropped from 20.8 to 15.9 and DeRozan 20.5 to 15.8. It’s time to change the roster but that means giving up on their two stars. To get value out of a trade, DeRozan would be the one to go as we can agree he is the better out the two. Some good trades could be for Kawhi Leonard, Carmelo Anthony or Andrew Wiggins. Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas is another option but he may exercise his player option and opt out.
Or don’t trade at all and look into free agency. I would say the draft but the Raptors don’t have a first-round pick due to the DeMarre Carrol trade last year.
At the end of the day, as long as James is in the east, the Raptors will not advance to the Finals. The only way they can is if the front office finds the missing piece or trade one of their stars or start over. Or wait until James retires.