Firing Dwane Casey is in the Toronto Raptors' Best Interests

 

In typically non-committal fashion, Toronto Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has maintained that with regard to offseason transactions, all options are on the table. One of those options is firing head coach Dwane Casey, an appealing scapegoat for the team’s gradual meltdown over the 2014-15. Ujiri’s comments in a recent radio spot suggest that he does not want to fire Casey, but he insists the decision has not yet been made.

Raptors fans should hope the decision to fire Casey gets made. Despite improving the team’s record each of his four years coaching, and despite this season’s franchise record of 49 wins, it’s clear Casey is not the long-term fit for the franchise.

First off, Casey is a defense-first coach that just produced one of the worst playoff defenses you’ll see. His vision for the Raps’ defensive culture clearly did not mesh with the personnel available; he wanted the team to be hard-nosed and gritty, but the Raps had maybe one or two players who fit that description. One of those players, All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry, has a spotty history with coach Casey. The two reportedly got over their differences at some point in 2013, once the team started winning, but losing has the uncanny power to re-ignite old feuds.

The second – and to me most important – reason Casey has to go is his lacklustre treatment of young players. Terrence Ross, Jonas Valanciunas and Bruno Caboclo have all suffered from insufficient playing time and a lack of trust from the coaching staff. Casey has essentially turned Ross into a “3 & D” specialist, and then benched him for inconsistent defense. Valanciunas, perhaps the one bright spot this season statistically, was repeatedly benched in fourth quarters.

In other words, Casey is not like the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s Scott Brooks – a strong player development coach eventually fired when the team had real title aspirations. Casey is all about winning, but his time with the Raptors shows he’s not the calibre of coach to take this team to the next level.

Casey has one more year left on his contract, but a “lame duck” season could be disastrous. It’s time for Ujiri and the Raptors franchise to pull the plug on Casey, and move forward with a head coach Ujiri himself hires.

Casey Sherman is a Toronto Raptors Beat Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @shermham