Of the two men most instrumental for the transition of the Toronto Raptors from an anonymous Eastern Conference also-ran to a franchise that at least has some niche ‘cool’ factor as a borderline contender, Dwane Casey has the easier job ahead of him.
The head coach has a year left on his contract, a nearly unblemished record of success – LeBron James beat-downs aside – and a reputation across the NBA as a quality coach and quality person.
Whatever happens next, he’ll be fine.
“I’m not sitting here begging or pleading because believe me, the sun’s gonna come up tomorrow and I’m gonna be excited to get up tomorrow morning,” Casey said at his end-of-season media availability on Wednesday.
It was a clear-eyed, confident presentation that addressed the past, present and future while acknowledging that his chances to return as head coach for his eighth season are anything but assured after Toronto was pushed aside by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs for the third straight year, the second straight time in a sweep and this time as the East’s No. 1 seed.
“No, I don’t expect a vote of confidence,” said Casey, who holds the franchise record for wins, winning percentage and playoff wins and guided Toronto to a 59-win season and the NBA’s second-best record behind the Houston Rockets. “Like I said, I’m still here, nobody’s told me any different … I’ve read all the articles and texts and all this stuff, so I understand what’s being said. I’m not blind or in the dark, but I’m not looking for a vote of confidence or anything like that ’cause nobody’s said any different.”
It was Masai Ujiri, the Raptors president, who sounded at moments like he was trying to win an argument.
After the external view of the Raptors peaked following their first-round series win over the Washington Wizards coupled with the Cavaliers’ iffy showing against the Indiana Pacers, it all came crashing down after their blowout loss to the Cavs in Game 4.
“You have to be man enough to admit when you’re wrong,” TNT commentator Charles Barkley said. “And I was 100 per cent wrong about the Raptors.”
Ever since his “F-Brooklyn” comment prior to the 2014 playoffs, Ujiri has been battling to improve the Raptors’ reputation in the league and beyond. Under him, “We The North” became more of a rallying cry than a marketing slogan.
Seeing all that sweat equity turned on with a few #LeBronto memes has to upset Ujiri, who has dreamed tirelessly of making Toronto an NBA ‘it’ spot. He believes in the city more than most people who live here.
So, where Casey’s press conference was a calm statement of fact, Ujiri’s verged on a pep rally at times. He raised his voice and railed against the collective wisdom, speaking above the heads of those watching and listening in far-off places.
“We believe in what we’re doing here, honestly. We believe in the growth …. ” he said. “Because you know what? People can make fun of anything they want on the Internet, make fun of the team, make fun of getting beat and all that stuff. Hey, there’s only one team, one team in the NBA that is going to win the NBA championship and 29 teams are going to not be winners and 29 teams are going to be disappointed and we’re one of them.”
But Ujiri’s stated goal is to be that last team standing; to hold a trophy at the end. And that’s where this off-season becomes his most challenging yet as he’s trying to do it without a James or equivalent.
He’s the person who must decide if Casey – voted by his peers in the NBA Coaches Association as their coach of the year on Wednesday – is the right person to lead the club forward or if he needs to part ways with one of the most respected figures in franchise history.
He’s the person who must evaluate whether the high-priced core he’s committed himself to – DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, Jonas Valanciunas and CJ Miles are on the books for roughly $105 million in 2018-19 and $111 million in 2019-20 – needs to be reworked and how.
And while he’s certainly got the juice and the track record to make bold moves if needed, like any executive on the job for long enough, there are mistakes on the ledger too.
Most of the deals he signed offered more money for shorter term, which should avoid a painful, expensive slide when the time comes to pivot towards a rebuild but makes it harder to rejig things on the fly — the list of teams willing to take on a 31-year-old point guard (Lowry) due $62 million over the next two years is limited.
He’s already traded a first-round pick to unburden himself from the last two years and $30.2 million of DeMarre Carroll’s contract and traded another first-round pick in part of the deal to acquire Ibaka last year. Re-signed last summer as a free agent, Ibaka has been a major disappointment, factoring positively in just three playoff games and disappearing in seven others after a spotty regular season. Another first-round pick – Bruno Caboclo, a defensible high-risk, high-reward choice in 2014 – never panned out and was sent away at the trade deadline.
The Caboclo pick is a rare blemish on an otherwise sound drafting and development strategy implemented by Ujiri but his young talent won’t stay on cheap rookie deals forever.
Bench Mob leader Fred VanVleet could command a deal in the four-year, $36-million range this summer as a restricted free agent and if Ujiri gave third-year guard Norman Powell $40 million for four years on an extension that kicks in July 1, who knows what the kids who actually were part of the rotation – Pascal Siakam, Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl — will command?
Casey has none of these headaches. He has been coaching for his job nearly every year under Ujiri, who inherited Casey when he took over from Bryan Colangelo. He’s implemented style changes Ujiri pushed for and lifted a roster that lacks superstar talent to among the cusp of the NBA’s elite.
If he can’t get them past LeBron, he can at least take comfort in knowing he’s got company.
“Our challenge and charge for the organization now is to move from regular-season (success) to the playoffs,” Casey said. “That’s something that a lot of folks have run up against [LeBron James] the last few years and had the same challenge and went down the same way.”
Maybe that’s why Casey said that having his coaching questioned and his job security speculated about has left him largely unbothered.
“It’s part of the business. I take it. I’m a big boy,” he said. “I’ve been through it. I know where we started here, I know what we’ve accomplished, I know the basketball world how they feel about us and respect us and what we’re doing, so it’s part of the territory. I take it. I accept it. I’m not running from it.”
His work, for now, is done. Ujiri’s is just beginning.
“Put it on me. We’ll get better. We’ll get better here,” Ujiri said. “We believe in this city, this country, this team here and move forward. I put it on myself.
“The most difficult time for me is watching the playoffs,” he said. “I think people in our position, it’s just difficult to watch it because you’re helpless. Now I can smile, now I can be nice to my wife. Now is the time that I can work. Our front office can work. We can be, we can do our jobs now.”
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