NBA Rumors: Raptors Weren't Happy with Nick Nurse's Comments, 'Let Him Hear About It'

It turns out the Toronto Raptors weren't fans of their head coach openly wondering if he had a future with the organization during the stretch run of the regular season.

"First of all, I think when this season gets done, we'll evaluate everything, and even personally, I'm going to take a few weeks to see where I'm at, you know?" Raptors head coach Nick Nurse told reporters ahead of a March 31 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. "Like you said, where my head's at. And just see how the relationship with the organization is and everything. It's been 10 years for me now, which is a pretty good run."

Josh Lewenberg of TSN reported "the front office was not happy" with the press conference and "let him hear about it."

This is not how the season was supposed to unfold for the Raptors.

After all, a roster with Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, O.G. Anunoby and some solid role players may not be good enough to compete for a championship, but it should also be better than the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference and a one-game exit in the play-in tournament.

Yet that is exactly what happened as Toronto blew a 19-point lead to the Chicago Bulls in Wednesday's contest and saw its season come to an end.

Nurse pointed to injuries and a busy trade deadline where "there was a thousand rumors, 999 of them were about us, it seemed like" as contributing factors to the up-and-down campaign. It certainly fell below his standards considering he is widely considered one of the better coaches in the league.

He helped lead Toronto to the title in his first season as head coach in 2019 and is 227-163 in five seasons at the helm.

Yet there is just one season remaining on his contract, and Lewenberg noted the Raptors do not plan on him starting the 2023-24 campaign with lame-duck status. That means either a parting of the ways or a contract extension, and Nurse has already been connected to the Houston Rockets after they declined the fourth-year option on Stephen Silas' deal.

Houston is one of the league's worst teams, though, and Lewenberg suggested Nurse wants to be somewhere he can challenge for another championship.

Perhaps that means waiting to see what other openings become available after the playoffs, or perhaps it ultimately means staying put in Toronto. But he probably won't publicly question his own future so publicly again after the front office expressed its displeasure with the comments this season.