ujiri used the words “reset†and “culture change†and said the way his team, coached by dwane casey, has played the last four years, isn’t good enough.
Nine times out of 10 that’s the language that either explains why a coach was fired or a new coach was hired.
if you didn’t listen carefully it would have been easy to get the impression that casey was being removed with the bathwater, but ujiri confirmed that casey will have the chance to redesign the style of play the raptors have made their own under his watch.
“yes there is commitment [to casey],†ujiri said. “but we are all going to question ourselves. We are all going to seriously question ourselves now, and figure out the best way to do it. Because coach casey has been a phenomenal part of our success here, you know, and in some ways we owe that to him [the opportunity to continue].
“but i’ve told him that we all have to be accountable. I haven’t slept, and i know he hasn’t slept too, because we’re thinking of ways that we can continue to make these things better, and make the right decisions.â€
if this sounds like giving the contractor who forgot to waterproof your basement the job to fix it, let’s just say it’s not the standard way of doing business in the nba, where coaches are often fired for lesser sins than failing to win playoff series.
and by giving casey his marching orders so plainly and publicly he’s not only putting casey in a tight spot – watch his team’s assist totals and three-point attempts become a game-by-game gauge of his progress next year – but ujiri has put his own judgement on the line too.
Should casey falter in implementing his new plan or should lowry or derozan or whoever chafe when it comes to implementing it, the easiest argument to make will be if ujiri wanted his team to play a different way and reset the culture he should have hired different coach.
That he expects to get different results from the same faces speaks to a high level or confidence or a high tolerance for risk, or maybe both.
But while ujiri spoke in may about not yet having the answers for the season just finished, that he was already prepared to commit to casey as an agent for change means he could be facing more questions if the new-look/old-look raptors struggle next season in november, december or any month other than june.