Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Report: Raptors' Nick Nurse A Head Coaching Candidate For Rockets
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The Houston Rockets see the 2023 NBA Draft and potential at selecting No. 1 overall as a springboard into regaining relevancy in the Western Conference. Players must perform, but do they need a new mastermind behind the clipboard to do so in winning fashion?
Reportedly, a reunion between former Rockets executive Gersson Rosas and Houston is not out of the realm of possibility and may bring with it championship reinforcements in Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse, according to the Toronto Star Sports.
Nurse, 55, made his bones in Toronto and led the franchise to a win in the 2019 Finals over the juggernaut Golden State Warriors. His X's and O's and sideline personality were the talk of the sports world in a year that made him the hot topic in coaching.
However, Kawhi Leonard left the team after hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy as well as several other key championship pieces, leaving Nurse with a competitive bunch that has not found a way to make it deep in the playoffs again. A divorce with Toronto could ruminate.
Nurse coached the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the then-NBA D League from 2011-2013 -- a Houston Rockets affiliate team. His two championships in 2011 and 2013 and a Coach of the Year award in the former catapulted him to the big leagues. A return to Houston would reunite him with a city he's known for some years now.
As Tweeted, Ime Udoka could step into Nurse's role in Toronto should the latter head for Houston. Udoka went through a bitter split with a Boston Celtics franchise he coached to the 2022 NBA Finals after a controversial tryst with fellow Celtics personnel found its way into the light.
Parting ways with the team, Udoka was linked to the Brooklyn Nets early in the season following the firing of then-coach Steve Nash but was passed up for Jacque Vaughn.
Nurse brings creativity and unpredictability to both offensive and defensive schemes, and brilliantly built what was known as 'the wall' against Giannis Antetokounmpo, helping the Raptors overcome an 0-2 deficit in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals and putting the word out on a recipe to slow down the former two-time MVP.
Houston would love nothing more than to enjoy coaching prowess of that caliber with a young nucleus of talent that could use it.
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