End of the Road for Nick Nurse as Raptors Coach?

Speculation has persisted over the past several weeks that unless the Raptors finished strong, coach Nick Nurse could be a goner.

Well, that speculation isn’t going anywhere, given that the Raptors finished with a thud, dropping a 109-105 home decision to the Bulls in the play-in game on Wednesday. For Nurse and Toronto, the uneven season is over.

So, could it be the end of Nurse with the Raptors?

It sure seems that way. He has already been linked to the vacancies with the Rockets and the Pistons. Interestingly, former Raptors coach Dwane Casey just moved into Detroit’s front office after five years coaching the team.

There is already a natural connection for Nurse with the Pistons. But that probably doesn’t really mean much.

Yes, Nurse was the coach when the Kawhi Leonard-led Raptors won the lone championship in franchise history back in 2019. No, the Raptors have not been bad under Nurse since.

They just haven’t been contenders. And when it comes to Toronto basketball, expectations are always sky-high.

Nurse, 55, has compiled a 227-163 overall record in five seasons coaching the Raptors. Given the parity and wide-open nature of today’s NBA, that’s a pretty good run. It’s just not a great run.

Considering the Raptors went 41-41 this season, you could make a case for both the Raptors wanting to keep Nurse, or for wanting to move on and give the team a new voice.

In the world of pro coaching, five years with the same franchise qualifies as longevity.

Nurse didn’t address his future in Toronto after the play-in loss, as no one asked. And that’s OK. Now is not the time.

Instead, he pointed to Toronto’s tough start, the multiple key injuries and a bad stretch later in the year. He also expressed pride with how the Raptors battled back to finish .500.

Then it all ended with a close loss to the Bulls.

“We didn’t bounce out of (our poor play) like we normally did,” Nurse said, via Eric Koreen of The Athletic. “We had a stretch of 10, 12 games where we didn’t resemble ourselves.”

Now, it’s all over. Definitely for the Raptors, and maybe for Nick Nurse, too.