Raptors Fired Head Coach Jay Triano

Toronto asked Jay Triano not to come back as head coach, but will keep him on staff as a consultant of sorts. From the Sun: “When Toronto’s dismal 22-60, last-place season concluded, it sure seemed like Jay Triano would return as head coach of the Raptors next season. ‘Clearly he did everything we asked this year. He deserves a lot of credit,’ said president/general manager Bryan Colangelo back in April. ‘All the players thought he did a great job considering the obstacles. He fared well. If I’m not back, he deserves consideration.’ After getting a contract extension a couple of weeks ago, Colangelo did give Triano consideration and in the end, decided it was time to reassign him to a different position within the organization. What changed? In a sentence: The pressure on Colangelo got more intense. He got his new deal, and with it, clearly came a mandate to get the Raptors on the right track sooner rather than later. No longer could he take a chance on Triano’s continued development. He needs a winner and he needs it now … ‘Jay fared well in a lot of areas but at the end of the day, my gut feeling of where this needs to go and how quickly we want to get there in terms of accelerating the process … I decided it was time to change the voice, change the leader at the helm,’ Colangelo said in a conference call.”