3 reasons Raptors coach Nick Nurse may earn spot on hot seat

2. Stalled development

Part of the reason that Ujiri felt so comfortable leaning into the “Vision 6-9” philosophy is the idea that Toronto’s excellent player development culture would have the club’s best young players performing more effectively in relatively short order. Instead, the team has flatlined.

The prime example of this is Barnes, who teams are focusing on. His numbers are very similar to or slightly below what he accomplished last year in most critical areas. When he has to fill so many holes and vacillate between so many different roles on both ends of the floor, it makes sense as to why his development has been slightly stunted.

The Toronto Raptors are not developing talent.

Outside of Barnes, Precious Achiuwa hasn’t replicated his second-half performances in his limited appearances this year. Both Malachi Flynn and Dalano Banton look like players that aren’t going to end up in the team’s long-term rotation. Christian Koloko is too far away to make a judgment on.

Nurse’s tendencies to either run starters into the dirt or take young fringe players out at the rotation at the first sign of strife may not make for an ideal developmental environment. Has he lost a step in this area over the years?