After Nick Nurse helped turn the Toronto Raptors from a consistent playoff team to an NBA champion in just his first season, teams from all around the league are trying to replicate that system with their respective squads. The Minnesota Timberwolves gave this a whirl by replacing Ryan Saunders with Raptors assistant Chris Finch last year.
While Finch was not in Toronto very long, he quickly assumed a prominent role on the bench. Despite taking over a moribund franchise that has not won a playoff series since Kevin Garnett’s MVP season in 2003-04, Finch has a 62-61 record over his 1.5 season tenure with Minnesota.
Finch won 46 games in his first full season with Minnesota, which was capped off by a play-in tournament victory over the Clippers on Tuesday night. With a tremendous big three of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and D’Angelo Russell at his disposal, Finch helped Minnesota have the league’s best offense in terms of points per game.
Consistency is key when you’re trying to sustain a winning culture, and the success of Finch might create new problems for Nurse. With Finch hitting the ground running in Minnesota, you can bet that several of Nurse’s best right-hand men will get interviews for head coaching jobs in the offseason.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are hiring Toronto Raptors assistant coach Chris Finch as the new head coach on multiyear contract, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 22, 2021
Toronto Raptors: Nick Nurse could lose assistants due to Chris Finch.
The most likely candidate to bolt the bench might be Adrian Griffin, who has coached with five different teams since the 2008 season. Griffin, who has a son that will likely be selected in the Top 10 in the upcoming NBA Draft, might appeal to anyone looking for some new blood rather than hiring a retread.
Earl Watson joined the Raptors before this season after recovering from an ill-fated stint as the head man in Phoenix. While he was very poor during his Suns tenure, he has earned rave reviews from Devin Booker and has been praised for his work with Pascal Siakam this season. He might be worth a second chance.
While Nate Bjorkgren crashed and burned after his lone season in Indiana, the failures of Rick Carlisle this season show that his issues might not have been all his fault. Trevor Gleeson has helped Toronto’s offense after a very successful career in Australia. Would a team go this far outside of the box?
Adrian Griffin is the acting head coach for the Raptors in tonight's season finale vs New York. Nurse didn't mention anything in his pre-game media avail roughly 2 hours ago. Only info from the team is that he's in the back at MSG and ISN'T in the health/safety protocols.
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) April 10, 2022
The Raptors have become one of the most reliable winners in the league, and every team in the NBA will try to carve off a piece of that culture for themselves. The Raptors might need to get used to making some new hires this offseason if more top assistant coaches bolt.