Masai Ujiri confirms NBA teams are calling about Raptors assistants

The Toronto Raptors might be led by Nick Nurse, but they can take pride in having one of the deepest collections of assistant coaches in the league. Adrian Griffin is the big name, but Toronto’s staff is full of coaches that need to eventually get the opportunity to lead a team in the pros.

In addition to Griffin, Toronto hit two home runs when they brought former Suns head coach Earl Watson and flex offense mastermind Trevor Gleeson into the fold. The turnover was noteworthy, but it undoubtedly played a part in helping the Raptors win 48 games this season.

Now that the rumors of Nurse taking the Lakers’ head coaching job have finally been squashed, the league might pivot to snatching one of his top assistants away. Ujiri has confirmed that there is a degree of interest in multiple Raptors assistants at a postseason press conference.

Ujiri confirmed that teams are calling about Griffin and Raptors 905 coach Patrick Mutumbo. Ujiri gave Griffin, in particular, his stamp of approval, saying that he is right on the cusp of becoming a head coach in this league. The Nick Nurse program keeps churning out viable coaches.

NBA teams eyeing Raptors assistants Adrian Griffin and Patrick Mutumbo.

Griffin has been on the bench since his retirement as a player in 2008, with his stints under Tom Thibodeau in Chicago and Nurse in Toronto serving as his most accomplished tenures. Nurse even did Griffin a solid by letting him serve as the coach during Toronto’s season finale against the Knicks. Someone will take the plunge and hire him eventually.

After Jama Mahlalela left Toronto to join Golden State, Mutumbo left the Raptors’ bench and took charge of Raptors 905. He has gone 36-11 with the squad from Mississauga, helping many of Toronto’s best young developmental pieces add new dimensions to their game.

Hiring Nurse assistants has been a 50/50 proposition in terms of their success in the NBA. While Chris Finch has done an exemplary job turning the Timberwolves into a viable playoff team in the West, Nate Bjorkgren was fired after just one controversial season in charge of the Pacers. Which path will Griffin and Mutumbo go down?

With Nurse off-limits, teams will try to pluck those who have been in his orbit for a long time to create a facsimile of Toronto’s culture elsewhere. Griffin and Mutumbo have both paid their dues, and they would make excellent coaches in the NBA.