Dwane Casey's contract extension is official. The Toronto Raptors announced Tuesday that they had agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension that will run through the 2018-19 season. According to The Vertical, the contract is for $18 million.
"We wanted to establish a culture here that we feel will provide players, coaches, our organization an opportunity to win a championship one day," Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri said. "That's the ultimate goal. And winning has always been what we talk about, culture has always been what we talk about. And Coach Casey has been a big leader for us. A great teacher and just a great teammate for us to have in this organization. We are extremely, extremely happy that we're moving forward with this."
Toronto won a franchise-record 56 games this season and advanced to the conference finals for the first time in its 21-year history. This was a massive achievement, especially after being swept by the Washington Wizards in the first round the year before. After that sweep, Casey's job seemed in jeopardy, but Ujiri elected to stick with him and bring in three new assistant coaches. That appears to have been the right call.
In 2011, Casey took over a team that was 20th in offensive rating and 30th in defensive rating. In his first season, Andrea Bargnani was the Raptors' No. 1 offensive option. They have increased their win total every year since then, and Ujiri and Casey have built a solid culture with Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan as their leaders.
"It's work. It's not easy. We've had some tough times, but to get where you want you want to go, you're going to go through those times to get to that championship level," Casey said. "And every program that's gotten there has gone through what we're going through. But continuity is huge: our system, the players that have been here, Masai and his staff. The key word is 'consistent.' Guys know what to expect every day they come to work."
Casey loves to say that Toronto is not a finished product. He also loves to say that the hardest step to take is from a good team to an elite one. That's what the Raptors are trying to do, and they have elected to go with the guy that brought them there, the guy who has survived losing seasons, a front-office shakeup and an embarrassing sweep. With almost every other team in the league on a coaching carousel, it looks like this is the rare case where stability and incremental growth count for something.
