Fans love to speculate on where players will end up and how much money they’ll get. Sometimes I think they love it more than the actual games themselves! However when a head coach starts chumming the waters with bait to attract other NBA teams you suddenly realize these guys can be just as sought after as some players.
That comment the other day pre-game against the 76’ers lit the tinderbox Raptors management tried to tightly contain to avoid distractions heading into the playoffs. While Raptors controlled media spun it as Nurse actually considering jumping to a different team like the Rockets that might have a better young core I doubt this.
Grange article on Nick's comments
This is an obvious and well calculated effort to let other NBA teams know that a high bid can bring them a top NBA coach. Why do I say this? Because Nick is represented by … you guessed it … Klutch Sports! Andy Miller to be specific. I don’t have to tell you that Klutch works extremely hard to get their clients top dollar and to be honest I don’t expect anything less from an agent. However the tactics they are willing to use are…well…not ‘typical’. This ‘out of nowhere’ comment pre-game in a huge American market is exactly what I mean when I say they use ‘not typical’ bargaining tactics. The timing was absolutely on point. It wasn’t in Toronto, it was in a big US city. It wasn’t too close to the playoffs to disrupt, but it did generate buzz. It immediately got US media play by guys like Tim Bonetemps so every exec in the NBA has heard it very quickly. That tends to be a sign of a coordinated leak from an agent.
Let’s parse the comments a bit…because I bet every team that has serious contending dreams next year is reviewing these exact comments just as carefully right now. The main part to me is this,
…see how my relationship with the organization is.
To me that says a lot. It says he’s open to staying but doesn’t know how much management wants him. You hear it a lot from players as well and I can promise you the exact words to be used were rehearsed carefully beforehand. Grange says this isn’t a ‘slow motion’ negotiation process and possibly a play to ‘buy more time’. That implies an offer is on the table and Nurse hasn’t accepted it and won’t accept it immediately after the season is done. He is open to under the table talks with other NBA teams about their situation and their offers. While officially it’s ‘tampering’ unofficially it happens all the time. A team rep will ‘chat’ with Nick’s agent mentioning ‘how great a coach he is’ and then mentioning off hand what the team’s budget for a head coach might be moving forward. You see, nothing about offering Nick a job! All just casual conversation. The agent then runs it by Nick and if things get more serious then more discreet talks are organized with more details. No emails, no phone calls.
The main purpose for this ‘comment’ by Nick and his agent who carefully planned it is to get a feel for the market value he has in the NBA right now. How can anyone successfully negotiate when they don’t even know what other people would offer them for something? They can’t! Nick is currently getting $8 mil per year but that was signed 3 years ago. Salary caps are going up. The market for head coaches is always extremely tight at the top unless teams are willing to gamble on an ‘up and comer’. Nick entering the prime of his coaching career now. He’s got a ton of experience and a great reputation around the league.
Beyond this negotiating tactic I don’t think there is anything more to read into this. Nick might in fact have an extension offer on the table that he isn’t signing. It might not be for any raise because the team hasn’t performed all that great…and Udoka is out there waiting for a job…and Masai knows him very well. Given these facts if I was Masai I wouldn’t be offering Nick any significant pay raises. He’s already one of the higher paid coaches in the league. Personally I don’t think Masai has put any offer on the table for a Nurse extension. Happy for any insider to confidentially pass me some info at ‘raptorsslander@proton.me’ … fans love to know the Truth and insiders are very important to get it out to everyone.
This just smells like a well-coordinated negotiation by Klutch. They are the best at it and this is why. Like watching an NBA All Star player dominate a game watching Klutch conduct negotiations simply is next level. You have to admire it.
I wonder what Coach Udoka would do with this roster?
I’ll bet $10.00 he is back.