NBA Rumors: Toronto Raptors could make surprise, unexpected coaching hire

NBA Rumors: The Toronto Raptors could end up making quite a splash with a possible rumored head-coaching candidate. 

It didn’t take long for many to come to the realization that the Toronto Raptors‘ time for change was here. They vastly underwhelmed this past season and with uncertainty surrounding a few of their players, this is an off-season where we can see this franchise make some big moves.

It’s almost impossible to predict what changes could be coming for the Raptors, but it’s pretty clear that there will likely be some new faces in Toronto next season. And one of those new faces will come at the head coach. After the season, the Raptors elected to part ways with head coach Nick Nurse. It was not surprising considering the whispers that were coming out of Toronto since the NBA Trade Deadline, but it was far from expected.

Since the firing of Nurse, the Raptors have been linked to a few head-coaching candidates, as you would expect. ESPN recently linked the Raptors to Kenny Atkinson, Charles Lee, Kevin Young, Mitch Johnson, Jordi Fernandez, Darko Rajakovic, Chris Quinn, Adrian Griffin, and Becky Hammon.

However, there is one other candidate that has been rumored to be of interest to the Raptors too – JJ Redick. A move that would be quite interesting considering Redick doesn’t have much, if any, coaching experience in the NBA. In fairness, during his time as a podcaster and broadcaster, Redick has proven himself to be one of the most knowledgeable “talking heads” in the NBA world.

Would JJ Redick make sense for the Toronto Raptors?

Despite this report, I still believe it would extremely surprising if this is the move that Toronto made. From an outside perspective, the most interesting move that the Raptors could make is hiring Hammon. She deserves a head coaching shot in the NBA and has paid her dues. But aside from Hammon, if the Raptors wanted to make the riskiest of moves, hiring Redick would be it.

For as good as Redick is with a microphone in his hands, who knows if that would theoretically translate to the sidelines. In theory, you would hope it would. His knowledge of the game is second to none and he certainly has the respect of his peers, but there’s no guarantee that it would work out.

But isn’t that the point or risk of any coaching hire?

It’ll be interesting to see what the Raptors end up doing in the macro this offseason.