NBA Rumors: Raptors 'Openly Evaluating' Nick Nurse's Fit as HC; Ime Udoka Linked

The Toronto Raptors are reportedly uncertain about whether they intend to keep Nick Nurse as their head coach beyond this season.

According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the Raptors are "openly evaluating" Nurse's fit as head coach despite the fact that he led them to their first and only championship in 2019.

If the Raptors do move on from Nurse, former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka is considered a strong candidate to replace him, as Doug Smith of the Toronto Star first linked Udoka to the Raptors last month.

Per Fischer, Nurse said last week that once the 2022-23 season ends, he's "going to take a few weeks to see where I'm at … where my head's at. And just see how the relationship with the organization is."

Nurse is under contract through the 2023-24 season, so the Raptors could allow him to coach out his contract, but his comments made it seem as though he is at least open to the idea of parting ways amicably after the 2022-23 campaign.

The 55-year-old Nurse is in the midst of his fifth season as head coach of the Raptors after spending the previous five years as an assistant in Toronto.

Entering play Friday, Nurse owns a career record of 226-162, including a 40-40 mark this season, which has Toronto in ninth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Raptors will compete in the postseason play-in tournament, meaning they will have to win their way into the playoffs.

In four seasons prior to this one, Nurse took Toronto to the playoffs three times, including a run to the championship in his first season as head coach in 2018-19.

That was Kawhi Leonard's only year with the Raptors, and Nurse has been unable to get the Raptors past the second round of the playoffs since his departure.

Given the fact that the Raptors have dropped from going 48-34 last season to being a .500 team this season, there is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the future of the players on the roster as well.

Although 2021-22 NBA Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes figures to be a cornerstone, Jakob Poeltl is a free agent at the end of the season, and both Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. have player options for next season. Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby are potential trade chips as well.

If the Raptors want to try to keep most of their roster together, the easiest way to create a spark would be to make a coaching change.

There is perhaps no better coach available than Udoka, who led the Celtics to a 51-31 record and took them to the NBA Finals in his only season as head coach last year.

Udoka was suspended for the entire 2022-23 season because of an inappropriate relationship with a Celtics staffer, and since Joe Mazzulla was named his full-time replacement, Udoka is free to take a job elsewhere.