Report: Raptors leaning toward keeping Casey as coach

If Kyle Lowry really isn't a fan of Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey, he won't like ESPN NBA insider Marc Stein's report claiming the club is likely to bring back its bench boss next season.

On Monday, Stein cited the fact that Casey - the winningest coach in Raptors history - is only heading into Year 2 of a three-year extension, while adding that the team's owner, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), would balk at eating Casey's contract while investing in a new practice facility and an exclusive D-League affiliate for the franchise. 

MLSE, which also owns the NHL's Maple Leafs and Toronto FC of MLS, is widely known to local media and Toronto's basketball, hockey and soccer fanbases as being primarily concerned with its bottom line.

Interestingly, in terms of potential player turnover, Stein reports that Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and center Jonas Valanciunas are the most likely to stay put in Toronto. 

Given the brutal ending to a season that began on such a promising run, the Raptors are actually in a somewhat enviable spot salary cap-wise. Stein adds that unrestricted free agent and NBA Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams could return, although general manager Masai Ujiri is expected to significantly tinker with the team's roster. 

Numerous Raptor warts were exposed in the four-game sweep at the hands of the Washington Wizards, including a lack of ideal personnel to adequately play Casey's defensive system. 

Ujiri nearly dismantled the team once by almost dealing Lowry away in late 2013, but an on-court osmosis sparked by the departure of Rudy Gay around the same time led to the most successful two-season stretch in franchise history.