Entering the middle of June the Toronto Raptors management team are still mum about their clubs plans moving forward.

Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. (Stan Behal/Toronto Sun)

Let go in May were two assistant coaches Tom Sterner and Bill Bayno. Several reports online have leaned towards the future of Dwane Casey’s job to be safe for now.

Reports of Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri targeting Scott Brooks have cooled off since Yahoo Sports reported Brooks will take a year off. Brooks, 49, wants to coach again but plans to take the year to look at television opportunities and reconnect with his family living in California, sources told Yahoo columnist Adrian Wojnarowski.

Ujiri’s target Scott Brooks wants to coach again but planning to take some time off may bode well for Casey’s near future but his long term future remains to be seen. In May of 2014, Casey signed an $11.25 million extension over the course of three years, with the Raptors holding a team option on the third and final year at just under $4 million. An option making Casey a lame duck entering the upcoming 2015-16 season.

ENTER STACKHOUSE 

As for reinforcements to Dwane Casey’s coaching staff an interesting candidate has emerged. Former NBA player of 18 years Jerry Stackhouse. Stackhouse now retired is rumored in NBA circles to have had an interview in Toronto during late May with Raptors management. He has held similar talks in the past with both the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks for potential player development coaching roles.

The Raptors and Stackhouse partnership is a realistic possibility considering his connection with Dwane Casey. Casey was an assistant coach in Dallas and Stackhouse a player with the Mavericks championship team in 2013. Hiring Stackhouse brings a household name and instant pedigree to a coaching staff with major voids to fill.

Jerry Stackhouse at an Adidas Euro Camp in Treviso, Italy. (Getty Images)

Stackhouse has spent retirement enjoying working in some broadcasting, doing radio and has also been able to build on what he wants to eventually do and that is coaching. During his summers he spearheads his own AAU club Stackhouse Elite. Stackhouse coaches his teams based out of Atlanta but also has sponsored teams in North Carolina and recently the Greater Toronto Area. Stackhouse a highly reputable coach on the horizon among his peers recently led a USA team full of high schoolers to a 3-0 record vs European squads in Treviso, Italy as part of the adidas Eurocamp international scouting bonanza.

Former players who have been appointed head coaches with zero bench experience include Doc Rivers, Mark Jackson, Jason Kidd — even Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr who is one game away from an NBA championship in his rookie season.

Stackhouse is not Warriors assistant Alvin Gentry who has been a head coach in the NBA and has experienced 10 years on NBA coaching staffs, but like Jason Kidd, Stackhouse is a prime candidate who can really understand today players. His 18 year career allowed him to sit in every seat, from a star player to the 15th guy on the team. That’s the key.

If Tyrone Lue and Luke Walton are assistant coahes in the NBA, why can’t Jerry Stackhouse?