Thursday was a busy day in the world of Raptors coaches, former and present. For starters, there was kind of an important game going down in Cleveland as Dwane Casey and his staff tried everything they could to help the Raps even their series with the Cavaliers (…they didn’t).
Meanwhile, assistant coach Rex Kalamian took some time out of his day to interview with the Houston Rockets for their vacant head coaching gig, the Toronto Star reports. Kalamian, who spent six seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder before joining the Raptors last summer, has accumulated a .648 win % as an assistant during that span.
The Houston Rockets fired Kevin Mchale early in the season and have been linked to former Phoenix Suns (…and Knicks/Lakers) head coach Mike D’Antonio. Kalamian has played an important role on Casey’s staff this year, and is said to be a potential candidate for a Rockets assistant job as part of D’Antoni’s staff.
Call it the cost of success, but when you’re a well-run organization fresh off a season where you comfortably finished a game shy of the top spot in the East and made it to the Conference Finals, people will notice, and other teams will poach. It’s the circle of life in the NBA. For example, Bobby Webster, the Raptors’ Vice President of Basketball Management & Strategy who was hired before the 2013-14 season after working in the league office, is also said to have been targeted by the Milwaukee Bucks to fill their position of Assistant GM.
Elsewhere, former Raptors head coach Jay Triano, who thrived on Terry Stotts’ coaching staff in Portland this past season, is reportedly leaving the Trail-Blazers for a job on the Phoenix Suns coaching staff next season.
