5 reasons the Toronto Raptors may actually be better without Kawhi Leonard
By Nate Friesen
2. Nick Nurse’s offensive genius is completely unlocked
Nick Nurse is likely running away with the Coach of the Year award at this point of the season. This has a lot to do with the fact that it appears as though Nurse is turning a team many had barely making the playoffs, into a real championship contender.
When the Raptors had Kawhi, Nurse had to fit the ‘Kawhi offense’ into his own scheme, but this season, it is all the Nick Nurse show. Nurse is a huge reason why Siakam started in the All-Star game this season and why Fred VanVleet is having a career year.
Nurse empowers all the guys on the roster from Pascal Siakam, all the way down to Matt Thomas. It’s incredibly impressive how Nurse has instilled confidence in every single guy on this roster. Even a guy like Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who was nearly out of the league, will go from not playing one night, to playing solid defence on Giannis Antetokounmpo the next night.
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Nick Nurse has earned a lot of guys some potentially big contracts this summer with the way he’s got them playing this season. Serge Ibaka and Fred VanVleet have played incredible this season, thanks in large part to Nick Nurse, and are both free agents this summer. It will be very interesting to see how much money these guys get offered this summer.
Even more interesting will be seeing if the Raptors are willing to pay the same or if Ibaka and VanVleet are willing to take a discount to stay in Toronto.