‘I’m gonna take a few weeks to see where I’m at’: Raptors’ head coach Nick Nurse says he will evaluate his future with the team after 10 years in Toronto following a ‘difficult season’
Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse told reporters on Friday that he wants to take some time to think about his future after the end of what has been ‘a difficult season from a number of standpoints.’
‘Early on, had some pretty serious injuries with some key guys,’ Nurse said before his Raptors took on the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.
‘I thought we kind of weathered that for a while … and then yeah, I think the trade deadline stuff, I don’t know if there was a thousand rumors, 999 of them were about us, it seemed like. So that was probably as interesting as it gets.’
Nurse did note that his primary focus remains however on finishing out the current season.
‘First of all, I think when this season gets done, we’ll evaluate everything, and even personally, I’m gonna take a few weeks to see where I’m at, you know?’ Nurse said. ‘Like you said, where my head’s at. And just see how the relationship with the organization is and everything.’
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse is planning to take ‘a few weeks’ to consider his future
Nurse and the Raptors have endured a tough season that has clearly worn on the head coach
‘It’s been 10 years for me now, which is a pretty good run. I don’t know, over those 10 years we got to be up there in number of wins with anybody in the league. I don’t know even know where that is, but we’ve had a lot of big seasons.
‘And then, right now, my head is to make this as long of a season as possible. This team needs playoff experience.
‘So that is where I’m at right now … finish out these six, see where we land, see if we can’t creep up a spot or two in the standings, and then give them hell in the playoffs, see if we can get in a real series and take it from there.’
As Nurse noted he has spent a total of 10 years in Toronto between the time spent as both head coach and assistant coach. He also stated he has not yet put any thought into coaching elsewhere in the future.
Since being named as Raptors head coach Nurse has recorded a record of 224-160 and led Toronto to the 2019 NBA championship.
Toronto entered Friday with a 38-38 record before they were set to face off with the Philadelphia 76ers.
They currently sit ninth place in the NBA Eastern Conference and still have a shot to make the NBA Play-In Tournament.
Toronto has still performed well enough to be in a position to make the Play-In Tournament