Fansided

Did the Toronto Raptors forget they fired Dwane Casey?

By Rucker Haringey

CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 05: Head coach Dwane Casey of the Toronto Raptors reacts while playing the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2018 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena on May 5, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 05: Head coach Dwane Casey of the Toronto Raptors reacts while playing the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2018 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena on May 5, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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The Raptors fired Dwane Casey earlier this week, but still managed to congratulate him on his Coach of the Year nomination tonight.

Dwane Casey isn’t a member of the Toronto Raptors organization anymore, but that didn’t stop the team from sending him some love on social media. The franchise took the classy step of congratulating their former coach on his Coach of the Year nomination tonight on Twitter.

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri likely saw this moment coming. He, better than most, understands just what Casey accomplished this season for the Raptors. They were an excellent regular season team en route to earning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, finishing the year with 59 wins.

Unfortunately, another playoff failure was enough to doom Casey, despite his regular season success. The Raptors were blown out by LeBron James and the Cavaliers despite having homecourt advantage. Ujiri came to the conclusion that Casey wasn’t the right coach to get them over the hump in the postseason.

Now the Raptors are left in a tough spot. They are trying to replace the best coach in their franchise’s history. Casey also is almost universally admired by his former players. Whoever the Raptors hire is going to need to win over fans and the players in the locker room. It’s a high-risk, high-reward proposition for the person who accepts Ujiri’s job offer.

Next: Marcus Smart calls out J.R. Smith after Game 2

On the bright side, at least the Raptors next coach can expect to be treated kindly by the team’s social media group even if they get the axe. Dwane Casey wasn’t good enough to keep his job under Ujiri, but he still has a lot of fans in the Raptors organization. You can bet the Raptors front office hopes he doesn’t win the award though. That might require a pretty lengthy Instastory.

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