Could Raptors’ Nick Nurse take Fred VanVleet with him to Rockets?

The Toronto Raptors could be faced with the prospect of a coaching change for the first time in half a decade, as the buzz surrounding head coach Nick Nurse potentially departing the franchise has never been louder. With Fred VanVleet also a free agent, the wings of change are blowing around Toronto.

If Nurse, who said he is going to consider his coaching future at the end of the season, ends up bolting Toronto, the Houston Rockets have been mentioned as a potential landing spot. Nurse has connections with the organization, and he will have the opportunity to rebuild a team from scratch.

Turning the Rockets into a team worth a damn will be an enormous undertaking, as it will require Nurse to undo years of poor personnel choices and instilling his cultural values in the team. As is often the case, Nurse could bring a player with him to help set the tone.

With VanVleet testing the open market at the end of this season and the Rockets having expressed some degree of interest in him in the past, it wouldn’t be hard to connect the dots and imagine a world in which Houston pays VanVleet the contract he desires.

Will Nick Nurse, Fred VanVleet leave the Toronto Raptors for Houston?

VanVleet is likely going to seek a multi-year contract that pays him well north of $100 million. That price tag is too expensive for a Raptors team that needs to save up for a whopping Pascal Siakam contract and Scottie Barnes extension coming up in the near future.

Houston, meanwhile, needs a scorer, defender, and leader that can take this young group of whippersnappers and get them playing connected, unified basketball. For all his faults, VanVleet can still stuff a stat sheet and lead a young team in search of some direction.

With or without Nurse, Toronto will try to retain VanVleet. The merits of that decision can be argued until both sides are blue in the face, but Ujiri will try to keep his undrafted prize. If he does want to leave, however, Houston does make sense for him.

VanVleet has his ring, an All-Star nod, and unofficial designation as one of the greatest undrafted free agent players in league history. If he is chasing paychecks or some sort of elevated role away from Toronto, joining a potential Nurse rebuild in Houston might be an amicable way for both sides to split.