The Toronto Raptors made an outside-the-box move when it decided to fire Dwane Casey and promote one of his longtime assistants, Nick Nurse, into the head coaching role. Now that Nurse is no longer the coach in Toronto, the Raptors apparently looked into another outside-the-box option in their efforts to replace him.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, J.J. Redick went through an interview with the Raptors to become the team’s next head coach.
Fifteen-year NBA veteran and ESPN analyst JJ Redick has interviewed for the Toronto Raptors’ coaching job, sources tell ESPN. Redick was part of a first-round of candidates to meet with franchise leadership.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 10, 2023
Michael Grange of Sportsnet laid out the current state of the team’s coaching search, which includes a number of candidates that the front office has identified for a potential interview. Names like Becky Hammon, Jerry Stackhouse, Sam Cassell, and Kenny Atkinson are on the list, but Redick was the most unconventional of the bunch.
Then there are some wild cards, with former Raptors head coach Dwane Casey thought to have registered interest and one source suggesting that Toronto has looked into the possibility of veteran NBA sharpshooter, turned podcaster, turned broadcaster JJ Reddick — who has spoken openly about the possibility of getting into coaching — as being head coach material.
Redick has turned into one of the most prominent retired players in the media world, whether that’s from hosting his podcast or the work he’s done with ESPN as both a studio analyst or in-game commentator. Of course, there is a full process that needs to play out here, and it’s unclear if Redick got anything more than just a first round of interviews for the position.