76ers Rival Raptors Facing Uncertainty With Nick Nurse

The future of Nick Nurse with the Toronto Raptors looks to be in question.

Not long before the Philadelphia 76ers tipped off against the Toronto Raptors for the fourth and final time this season, Toronto head coach Nick Nurse sprinkled some uncertainty about his future with the Raptors’ organization. 

As the Raptors have gone from being consistent title contenders to competing for a spot in the NBA’s Play-In Tournament, Nurse admitted that this year’s run has been tough to navigate.

“It's been it's been a difficult season from a number of standpoints,” Nurse said. “So, you know, early on, had some pretty serious injuries with some key guys. Thought we kind of weathered that for a while, but it kind of came back to us a little bit. I think the trade deadline stuff was, I don't know, if there was 1,000 Rumors, 999 of them were about us, it seemed like. That was probably as interesting as it gets.”

At this point in the season, the Raptors hold a 38-39 record, which places them in the ninth seed. While their playoff hopes aren’t eliminated, the Raptors are a long way from where they were last season, when they notched a spot in the playoffs by getting in as the fifth seed. 

With the Raptors potentially approaching rebuilding territory, the organization might have some major changes to make beyond the on-court personnel.

“I think when this season gets done, we'll evaluate everything and, even personally, like, I'm going to take a few weeks to see where I'm at," Nurse explained. "See where my head’s at and just see all of the relationships with the organization is everything.

“It's been ten years for me now, which is a pretty good run. And I don't know, over those ten years, we've got to be up there with number of wins with anybody in the league. I don't even know where that is, but we've had a lot of good seasons.”

While it sounds like Nurse is one foot out of the door pertaining to the 2022-2023 NBA season in general, he made it clear that he’s focused on steering the ship and hoping for an opportunity for his team to become dark horse candidates in a potential playoff run this year.

“This team needs playoff experience,” Nurse continued. “That is where I'm at right now. I think since February, we got the third-best record in the league, which isn't too bad. I think we got a top-five defense which is what we're where we're trying to get to, playing some pretty good basketball. So, finish out these six, see where we land, see if we can creep up a spot or two in the standings, and then give them hell in the playoffs and see if we can get into a real series and take it from there.”

Although Nurse is on contract for another season in Toronto, there’s been some speculation that his time with the Raptors could come to an end sooner than that. Missing the playoffs would certainly draw attention to the situation. No matter what happens between this past Friday’s game in Philly and beyond the remainder of the season, Nurse seems set on re-evaluating the situation.

“I think that I'm concentrated on this job for sure, and this game, essentially, but I think that ten years is a good time to sit back and reflect a little bit,” he finished. “So, I think that's what we're going to do that all when the season ends.”

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.