You can say one thing for sure about the first coaching change of Masai Ujiri’s five-year run atop the Raptors: It was not a bloodless transfer of power, nor a friendly one.
On Monday, Dwane Casey was hired as coach of the Detroit Pistons, one month to the day he was fired by the Raptors after seven mostly magical years in Toronto. On Tuesday, Nick Nurse emerged as Ujiri’s choice to replace Casey. And as those significant life events were unfolding, it’s safe to say the two men were not toasting each other’s good fortune with champagne and congratulatory repartee. Forget their five largely successful years together on the Raptors bench. Forget that it was Casey who gave Nurse his first NBA…
