Report: NBA Executives 'Anticipate' Raptors Will Fire COY Candidate Dwane Casey

With the Toronto Raptors on the brink of elimination—down 3-0 to the Cavaliers at the time of publication—head coach Dwane Casey is apparently on the hot seat, according to Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer.

"Executives around the league anticipate that the Raptors will make a coaching change, though there are no guarantees after Toronto's success this regular season," O'Connor wrote.

Raptors assistant coaches Nick Nurse and Rex Kalamian, as well as G League coach Jerry Stackhouse, are internal candidates to potentially replace Casey if the front office does make a move.

With a transformed offense featuring more efficient shots, Toronto finished with a franchise-record 59 wins this season and earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. 

As a result, Bleacher Report's Dan Favale predicted Casey would win Coach of the Year. 

However, the team hasn't had much playoff success over the past few years. Toronto has reached the postseason in each of the last five seasons but has just four series wins to show for it.

With one more win this series, the Cavaliers will have eliminated the Raptors three straight years. Cleveland already had nine playoff wins in a row against Toronto entering Monday.

Casey became head coach in 2011, taking over a team that won just 22 games the year before. In two seasons, he had Toronto up to 48 wins, turning things around for a franchise that hadn't made the playoffs since 2008.

Considering DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and most of the roster remain under contract through the next two seasons, the team could give the coach more opportunities to find more success in the postseason. However, at some point, you can't expect different results if you don't make changes.  

Another early playoff exit could lead to some tough choices from management.