Facing a 3-0 deficit, the Toronto Raptors must defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. If Toronto doesn’t win, its season will definitely be over, and according to some NBA executives, Dwane Casey will be out of a job.
While he did note that the success of the 2017-18 season could change this, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reported that “Executives around the league anticipate that the Raptors will make a coaching change.”
Casey has been with the Raptors since the 2011-12 season. Toronto has a 320-238 record under Casey’s watch and has made the playoffs in each of the last five seasons. Unfortunately, that’s where his struggles begin.
Heading into Monday’s Game 4, the Raptors are 21-29 in the postseason under Casey. But two of those postseason runs resulted in first round defeats. Assuming Cleveland does ultimately defeat Toronto, two of the remaining three postseason trips will have ended in the second round. The Raptors have still yet to make an NBA Finals series in their franchise history.
Given his record, it seems likely that Casey would land a job with another team (assuming he wants one). But given the lack of postseason success in five tries, Toronto moving on from Casey would be far from surprising.