Dwane Casey Contract Kicks Off Toronto Raptors Offseason

Just two days after a heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA playoffs, the Toronto Raptors started to move on, signing coach Dwane Casey to a three-year contract.

From every angle, it’s a brilliant move by the Raptors. Sunday’s loss still stings. Toronto came within a shot of advancing to past Kevin Garnett, Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce. There were questions about dubious calls made by the officials and the sight of Kyle Lowry lying on the court after his last-second shot was swatted away won’t be forgotten soon.

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But it’s time to move on consider how far this Raptors team has come. They went from a club that was expected to be in contention for the No. 1 overall draft pick after the Rudy Gay trade to a squad that had the entire NBA on notice.

Make no mistake, the league noticed, too. It’s hard not to when you have 10,000 rabid Raptors fans screaming in the rain outside the Air Canada Centre to support their team.

Now, with Casey back at the helm, the first block is in place to build upon this season. Toronto GM Masai Ujiri approached Casey about working on his contract extension during the regular season but Casey wanted to wait until after the offseason. There was no way he was leaving this group and sure enough, he didn’t waste any time signing on the dotted line.

“From Day 1 last summer, Dwane has done an excellent job both on and off the court,” Ujiri said in a release. “There’s been growth from each player on the roster and the team’s identity of toughness and a desire to always compete has clearly been established.”

That sentiment is shared from the leaders in the locker room as well.

“He’s not going to tell you do to something just to do it,” DeMar DeRozan said of Casey. “There’s a reason behind everything. Once you respect a man’s word like that, you’re going to work for him.”

It’s that work ethic that transformed this team. After the All-Star break Casey had all his players sign a document committing themselves to the squad. Reportedly, point guard Kyle Lowry was the first player to sign his name.

Now that Casey has been taken care of, now it’s time to return the favor to Lowry and make sure he doesn’t leave on July 1. After that, the focus shifts to restricted free agents Patrick Patterson and Greivis Vasquez. The Raptors won this year because they stuck together. Now that the season’s over, the team’s management needs to make sure it keeps this group together.