Nick Nurse to be Raptors head coach
Nick Nurse spent almost three decades paying his coaching dues, toiling with teams in Britain, Italy and Belgium, college basketball and the G League.
The chance he’s long coveted has finally arrived. Nurse has agreed to become the next coach of the Toronto Raptors, a person with direct knowledge of the hire told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Nurse will be replacing his former boss, Dwane Casey - under whom he spent the past five seasons as a Raptors assistant. Casey was fired after the Raptors were swept out of the second round of this year’s playoffs by Cleveland.
Nurse and the Raptors were completing contract terms Tuesday, according to the person who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced. ESPN first reported the hiring.
The move seems to suggest there will be at least some continuity between what the Raptors have been doing and what they’ll do on his watch. Toronto went 59-23 this season, the best record in the Eastern Conference and second-best record in the NBA.