Nick Nurse "In High Demand", Takes Meetings With 3 Teams


Former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse is in "high demand" and is expected to take interviews this week with three potential championship contenders next season. 

As Insider Shams Charania puts it in The Athletic, the former championship coach and NBA Coach of the Year "could possibly have his job to choose from, essentially his own selection process."

He'll start his process by meeting with three teams, and he'll essentially be choosing to coach one of three different MVPs:

Milwaukee Bucks

Will Nurse decide his best re-entry to an NBA bench is by coaching two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo? The Bucks were one of the teams that Nurse's Toronto Raptors disposed of in 2019 on their way to the championship. Giannis is fully aware of what Nurse can do, and vice-versa. Nurse, in fact, was chosen by Toronto over the Bucks' previous coach, Mike Budenholzer, to take over in The Six back in 2018. 

Philadelphia 76ers

Staying in the Eastern Conference, another team that Nurse is eminently familiar with, the Sixers were another of the coach's road kill along the way to the title in 2019 (anyone remember the Kawhi Leonard shot at the buzzer in Game 7 that left Joel Embiid in tears?).

Now Nurse could get his chance to coach the 2022-23 MVP. And Embiid would surely like to have him on his side going forward. 

The Sixers deposed on Doc Rivers this past week. 

Phoenix Suns

Perhaps Nurse would choose to coach another former MVP, Kevin Durant? He almost got the chance this past year (though no one really knows how close it came) when the Raptors were one of the favorites make a deal for KD after his trade demand from Brooklyn last summer. 

The Suns let go of popular head coach Monty Williams last week, so Nurse would have big shoes to fill, but the likes of Durant and Devin Booker would certainly go a long way to helping him fill them. 

Photo: Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports