Raptors officially name Nick Nurse head coach

The Toronto Raptors officially announced the hiring of Nick Nurse as the ninth head coach in franchise history on Thursday.

Nurse had served as an assistant with the Raptors under his predecessor, Dwane Casey, for the past five years. He was responsible for running the offense, especially during the 2017-18 season when Toronto's modernized approach helped spur the team to 59 wins.

"Nick is an innovative coach who has a tremendous basketball IQ, and a unique approach to the Xs and Os. We've valued his creativity and dedication as he focused on making our offense one of the best in the NBA, and we believe that he will bring those qualities to his new role as head coach," Raptors president Masai Ujiri said in the team's official release.

"This is an exciting and important season for the Raptors, and I believe Nickʼs strong leadership and focus on winning are qualities which will help lead us to our ultimate goal, which is a championship."

Before joining the Raptors, Nurse spent six seasons as a D-League head coach, where he became the first head coach to lead two different D-League squads to the championship.