On Friday, when the NBA announced the nominees for the league’s coach-of-the-year award, you’d have forgiven Raptors president Masai Ujiri if he took a moment to ponder a big question. Specifically, what would my team have looked like if I’d hired one of those guys?
That’s not to say Ujiri doesn’t have full confidence in the acumen of Nick Nurse, the rookie head coach who’s guided the Raptors to a 58-win season and the second trip to the Eastern final in franchise history. It’s only to say that, when you glimpse the list of the three finalists for the Red Auerbach Trophy, it’s worth noting that Ujiri considered two of them before he moved on to choosing Nurse.