Toronto Raptors: Grading summer moves at the halfway mark

“Trading” Dwane Casey for Nick Nurse

After spending seven seasons with Dwane Casey, the Toronto Raptors finally decided to part ways with the reigning Coach of the Year. Casey is still a great coach, but sometimes things just don’t click.

As a result, the Raptors decided to fire Casey and promote Nick Nurse to take over as the head coach. Nurse served as the team’s assistant coach for almost the entire spell of Casey’s presence in Toronto.

One thing Nurse has managed to excel at since the beginning of the season is playing with what life throws at you. The Raptors have had countless minor injuries so far, meaning that Nurse very rarely has the ability to play whoever he wants.

He has created multiple lineups that work like a well-oiled machine, even if it means not including some of the team’s key players.

Nick Nurse has turned the Raptors into serious title contenders. Even though one cannot give all the credit to the coach with so many players stepping up their game, Nurse has been the guy that kept everything in order since day one of his promotion.

Only time will tell if Nurse will become the guy to lead the Raptors to the promised land or if we’ll see just a dominant regular season team once again, but for now, this appears to have been a good move.

Grade: B+