The case for the Raptors hiring Steve Nash as head coach

The Toronto Raptors might be on the verge of doing something unthinkable, as the latest reports from all over the basketball world confirmed that Steve Nash interviewed with the team for their head coaching vacancy. By all accounts, Nash ended up impressing the team in an interview. 

Replacing Nick Nurse with Nash would be a serious system shock for this fanbase, especially after he is coming off one of the most disappointing tenures in recent league history as coach of the Brooklyn Nets. Even with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden, wins were hard to come by.

The faults in hiring Nash are obvious, and we’re on record saying that hiring Nash would be an arrogant decision from Masai Ujiri. Essentially, he would be hiring Nash to fix the vibes on this flawed roster rather than enacting a more significant culture change by hiring another coach.

While Nash would have to overcome some significant challenges to earn the trust of this fanbase and show he can win games with strategies more complex than just letting Durant cook, Ujiri is apparently seeing some untapped potential in Nash the Nets managed to obscure.

The Toronto Raptors might hire Steve Nash.

In hiring Nash, Ujiri seems to be saying the situation in Brooklyn was so toxic and so difficult to reign in that any coach would have trouble winning there. After all, there have been reports coming out that mentioning Irving would ignore Nash’s play calls from the sidelines.

Nash was also a first-time coach with no prior experience, and he immediately had to learn how to get the most out of three ball-dominant superstars, all of whom missed time consistently and played together for just 16 games. Could he even executive his vision with the Nets when you don’t know who is playing every day?

Part of the interview process (perhaps the biggest part) will involve candidates selling ownership and the front office on a plan for Scottie Barnes. If Nash truly has the best plan for Barnes, and Toronto feels conviction in his ability to deliver, it makes sense as to why he is being considered.

The Nash hire is setting off several alarm bells, and it looks to be more in line with a disaster than a diamond in the rough. However, if Ujiri’s hunch is proven correct, Toronto might end up on the ground floor of the Nash Renaissance before anyone else gets the idea.