Raptors eyeing Ime Udoka, Nick Nurse likely headed to Rockets in wild NBA rumors

The NBA coaching carousel is wasting no time getting into full swing this season, with one big name suddenly on the market after weeks of rumors, and a controversial replacement for him already being considered a top candidate.

The Toronto Raptors fired Nick Nurse on Friday morning, according to multiple reports. Nurse led the Raptors to one of the most unlikely championships in NBA history back in 2019, but he’s won only one playoff series since as Kawhi Leonard departed for the Los Angeles Clippers. The Raptors missed the playoffs this season going 41-41, and now Nurse is out.

Nurse reportedly has his next job lined up: he’s expected to become the new head coach of the Houston Rockets. While ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is merely calling Nurse “a prominent candidate” for the job at the moment, there has been buzz around the league that Nurse is expected to accept the job in Houston now that he’s been fired in Toronto.

The Rockets are already moving to second round interviews to fill their head coaching vacancies which will include Nurse, Frank Vogel, and Ime Udoka.

The Raptors already might have a front-runner to fill their head coaching vacancy. Ime Udoka is “expected to be a serious candidate” for Toronto, according to Woj. Udoka led the Boston Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals last season in his first year as a head coach, but then was suspended by the team for allegedly having a romantic affair inside of the organization. The Celtics finally fired Udoka in Feb.

Udoka to the Raptors shouldn’t be considered a done deal yet: he was expected to become the Brooklyn Nets’ head coach earlier this season after they fired Steve Nash, but that fell through. According to reports, Udoka is expected to interview for other vacancies around the league.

The bigger question in Toronto might be who is running the front office. The Washington Wizards — who fired lead executive Tommy Sheppard earlier this week — are expected to have interest in Masai Ujiri, the long-time leader of the Raptors. Washington has had interest in Ujiri before. Could they actually convince him to leave Toronto where he once built a championship team?

One thing is for sure: the Raptors needed a new voice as head coach. There were reportedly big issues between Nurse and the front office as Toronto underwhelmed all season.

There were so many rumors that the Raptors could blow up their roster at the trade deadline, but they actually chose to add a piece in center Jakob Poeltl. There’s already another round of rumors that Toronto could trade away its best players this offseason and reset. Is Ujiri making that decision, or someone else?

For now, expect Nurse to land in Houston soon. All eyes will be on the Raptors throughout this offseason, at basically every level of the organization.