League sources say the Raptors have already conducted initial interviews with assistant coach hopefuls Nick Nurse of the Rio Grande Vipers of the D League, former Raptor and current Brooklyn assistant Popeye Jones and ex-NBAer Tyronn Lue. Whether those three have to be re-interviewed once Ujiri is on the job full-time remains to be seen but the future of the current staff is cloudier than it’s ever been. None have contracts guaranteed past the end of June and it’s expected none will be in town this week when some players come back for workout sessions with members of the team’s training staff.
The emergence of those names as possible replacements to a staff including Johnny Davis, Scott Roth, Tom Sterner and Micah Nori is not news, the fact they’ve already spoken to members of the Raptors front office would suggest significant change to Dwane Casey’s staff is at hand. Team sources said weeks ago that seeking permission to interview potential new assistant coaches was simply a due diligence process; the desire now for change with a new general manager in place has been hastened.
Casey, according to league sources, has already spoken at length with Ujiri and Leiweke and would seem safe from any purge. He has a year left on his contract.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/raptor...ing_house.html
The emergence of those names as possible replacements to a staff including Johnny Davis, Scott Roth, Tom Sterner and Micah Nori is not news, the fact they’ve already spoken to members of the Raptors front office would suggest significant change to Dwane Casey’s staff is at hand. Team sources said weeks ago that seeking permission to interview potential new assistant coaches was simply a due diligence process; the desire now for change with a new general manager in place has been hastened.
Casey, according to league sources, has already spoken at length with Ujiri and Leiweke and would seem safe from any purge. He has a year left on his contract.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/raptor...ing_house.html
If I remember correctly, Roth, Sterner, and Nori were all holdovers from Triano. Only Davis was brought in by DC.
I wonder if Casey's conversation with Leiweke went something like this:
DC: First of all I want to say thank god you are here. The last 2 years has been awful. Bryan has held my first born captive telling me if I don't play Bargnani I will never see her again. I've been living in terror. I want you to know I never wanted to play Bargnani, I never wanted to pay lip service to defense and accountability, I always wanted to bang and grind it out. I hate the 22ft jump shots but it is the only thing Bargnani and DeRozan can do. I hate having Rudy run ISO after ISO but Bryan said give him free reign. *sobs* *sobs* Thank goodness you are here, Mr. Leiweke.
TL: There, there Dwane. It is alright. Bryan can't hurt you anymore.
In all seriousness, it looks like Casey might get a fair chance assuming Colangelo was as meddling as some reports have led to believe. I still think he is an excellent assistant and a poor head coach. If he stays I'd love to be proven wrong though.
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