Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey has been named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month of December, the team announced Wednesday.
The honor is Casey’s fourth during his Raptors tenure, well ahead of Sam Mitchell (one) and everyone else (zero) in the team’s history. That shouldn’t be surprising, as Casey is also the longest-tenured, most-successful, and best coach the team’s ever had.
The Raptors went 10-4 in December, second in the conference, and posted a ridiculous 12.1 net rating (second only to Houston), scoring 114.6 points per-100 possessions (again, second to Houston) over the course of 14 games. The Raptors may have closed out a tough west-coast road trip in shaky fashion and failed in a few opportunities to beat elite opponents, but for the most part it was a pretty terrific month. It also included a franchise-record seven-game road winning streak.
Casey’s success in the role earned him a three-year contract extension this summer, and nothing much has changed in how I’d evaluate him since then. He remains underrated as people lose sight of the macro for the micro and occasionally over-react, and he continues to prove more flexible and creative than he gets credit for. Every coach has his shortcomings, to be sure, but Casey’s been instrumental in solidifying a locker room culture, system, and continuity that have helped the Raptors reach new heights each successive season. He’s deserving of praise, and this award.
In other news I meant to post earlier, Fred VanVleet and Bruno Caboclo have been assigned to Raptors 905 for tonight’s game. They’ll likely be back with the parent club immediately after to join the team for Thursday’s home game against Utah, in sticking with the pattern for the season (the 905 are hitting the road  afterward, and VanVleet and Caboclo have rarely traveled). Coming off a lengthy road trip with little practice time and few garbage-time opportunities, it will be good for each player to get out and get some extended run. The 905 could use the boost, too, as they’ve stumbled a bit of late.
