The Raptors parted ways with long-time president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri, who was once considered the best executive in the NBA after building the 2019 championship team. One of the emerging top candidates to replace him is the man that he fired as head coach immediately prior to the Raptors’ sole championship season: Dwane Casey.
Dwane Casey has been around for the entire Pistons' rebuild
Casey coached the Raptors for seven seasons and even won the 2018 Coach of the Year award before being unceremoniously ousted from the role following a sweep at the hands of the LeBron James-led Cavaliers in the 2018 playoffs. He then came over to the Detroit Pistons and coached for five years before transitioning into his current front office role when the franchise hired Monty Williams.
As a coach, Casey has often been credited with establishing a solid culture and developing young players, including the start of Pascal Siakam and Fred Van Vleet’s journeys from overlooked prospects to All-Stars. On the flip side, he’s been criticized for lacking the ability to make in-game adjustments and implement high-level tactics.
It’s unclear exactly how Casey fared as an executive in Detroit. In his first season in the role, the Pistons had the worst season in franchise history but then had their most success in a decade the next season. We don’t know his exact role in personnel decisions or talent evaluation, but has been around for the entire rebuild going back to the Blake Griffin years.
Raptors fans are already lamenting the thought of Casey returning to lead their team, but he has shown an ability to get the most out of unheralded players and build a winning culture in the past. Combined with a smart tactician of a coach, this could be a winning combination.
If Casey had a large part to play in creating the culture that led to such a positive team environment in Detroit last year, let’s hope that he chooses to stay with the Pistons rather than return to a team that disposed of him so coldly before. He has the opportunity to continue building something special rather than trying to figure out a Raptors roster that honestly doesn’t make much sense.