On Wednesday, Dwane Casey's peers voted him Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year. On Friday, he found himself unemployed after the Toronto Raptors fired him as head coach following seven seasons that saw them reach unprecedented heights during the regular season but fail to translate those into deep playoff runs.
That dichotomy presents the fundamental question for the Raptors in deciding Casey's fate: Did they overachieve in the regular season or underachieve in the playoffs? Which one of those is true will eventually determine whether this move made sense.
The case for Casey
Toronto's 59 wins during the 2017-18 regular season are tied for the third-most ever by a team that decided to change coaches after the year.