Report: Jerry Stackhouse to move to D-League as new head coach of the Raptors 905

The Raptors 905 just shot to the top of the “Do Not Mess With Us” list after reports, via Chris Reichert of Upside Motor, named Jerry Stackhouse the new head coach of the team.

Stackhouse will come to the position after spending a year as an assistant with the big league squad working under head coach Dwane Casey. He also comes with the pedigree of an 18-year veteran and former NBA All-Star, having played with everyone from Allen Iverson to Grant Hill to Dirk Nowitzki. Stackhouse is also also long known in NBA circles as a dude you just do not want to mess with (which puts him in the august company of former players like Charles Oakley and the departed Anthony Mason). This is a cool turn of events for the 905.

The Raptors’ D-League affiliate needed a new coach after Jesse Mermuys took the top assistant job with the Los Angeles Lakers under Luke Walton. The other names in the mix for the position were David Gale, who’s still an assistant with the 905, and Jama Mahlalela, who head coached the most recent iteration of the Raptors’ Las Vegas Summer League team (and excelled at the job). Still, Stackhouse also got a chance to do some coaching in Vegas, and as a highly-regarded former player, is the kind of voice a locker room can always use. Of course, now the Raptors have to figure out how to replace him (and Andy Greer) with the main coaching staff.

As far as assessing Stackhouse’s actual coaching acumen, time will tell. I will say, after watching Stackhouse coach the Summer League team in one game, that he did look to involve rookie Jakob Poeltl in the post more, which feels like a very non-Raptors (and exciting) thing to do. He is also known to mix it up in 3-on-3 games after practice with the other Raptors young guys (Wright, Powell, Bruno and Nogueira plus the now-departed James Johnson, usually). It’s a very small sample size but if you want my opinion: I think Stackhouse will be a good fit for the 905.

What do you guys think of the move?