DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry Support Raptors HC Dwane Casey Amid Hot-Seat Rumors
While the outside world may be looking for the Toronto Raptors to move on from Dwane Casey following another disappointing postseason showing, the team's best players have their coach's back.
One day after Toronto's season-ending loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, TSN's Josh Lewenberg reported that his sources are telling him the organization is leaning toward parting ways with Casey. But that's not a move DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry are pushing for.
"I been with Case 7 years," DeRozan said, per The Athletic's Blake Murphy via Twitter. "He put the trust in me, he believed in me, he let me be a 21-year-old kid, going out there, play freely. A lot of my success, all of my success, I've gotta credit to Case."
Lowry echoed similar sentiments, per Murphy: "I've been able to be who I've become with him. I always believe in him. I believe he's one of the best coaches out there."
While DeRozan supports his coach, he acknowledged, per Murphy, that he doesn't have a say in personnel decisions: "I just do my job, and that's to come back better...I never question anything else."
Casey (320-238, .573 winning percentage) is the winningest coach in Raptors history, piling up more than twice as many victories as anyone. No other coach in franchise history has a winning percent above .500.
In his seven years in Toronto, the 61-year-old Casey has seen gradual improvement in all but one season—with the lone exception seeing a slight drop from 56 wins in 2015-16 to 51 in 2016-17. The trend got back on track this season as his team won a franchise-record 59 games.
The Raptors have won four division titles and made five postseason appearances under Casey. After never having won 50-plus games in a season before he took over, they have recorded three such campaigns in a row. They have not won fewer than 48 contests since 2012-13.
However, for as successful as Toronto has been during the regular season, it has not been able to get over the playoff hump. The team has made it past the second round once with Casey leading the way, getting knocked out in the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals. LeBron James and the Cavaliers have eliminated the Raptors in three straight years, winning 10 consecutive meetings.
It's clear this Raptors squad has gone as far as it can go. Whether it's the coach or the players, something will likely have to change if the organization hopes to go from playoff team to legitimate title contender.
