With the draft and the bulk of free agency now behind us, it's time to start taking stock of what's transpired this summer and how it all figures to impact the upcoming NBA campaign.

This week, we discuss: Which coach will be on the NBA's hottest seat in 2015-16?

***

Dan Devine: Dwane Casey, Toronto Raptors. Which, to be honest, feels kind of nuts.

After winning just one division title in their first 18 years of NBA existence, the Raptors have won back-to-back Atlantic Division crowns under Casey. Toronto followed up its 2013-14 coming-out party — a franchise-record 48 wins, a return to the postseason, top-10 finishes in both offensive and defensive efficiency, raucous crowds at Air Canada Centre, the unveiling of "We The North," etc. — by setting a new franchise record last season with 49 wins. The Raps also finished third in the NBA in points scored per possession, landed point guard Kyle Lowry in the starting lineup for the 2015 Eastern Conference All-Star team, and made a second straight playoff appearance for the first time since the 2006-07 and '07-'08 seasons.

The Raptors will again enter the season as favorites to win the Atlantic and host Game 1 of a playoff series; that's not the sort of thing that gets coaches fired. And yet, it's really tough to shake the memory of how Casey's crew has finished these franchise-record-setting seasons.

All the good will of the 14-win improvement in 2013-14 ended in a final-seconds Game 7 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on the Raptors' home floor. And after looking to wipe that bad taste out by racing out to a 24-8 mark through the first three months of the 2014-15 season, Toronto limped home, playing .500 ball after Jan. 1 struggling with slow starts while posting the NBA's seventh-worst defense after the All-Star break, and ultimately getting dismantled in Round 1 by Bane of Canada Paul Pierce and the Washington Wizards in a four-game sweep that prompted the following summation from our Kelly Dwyer: "The Raptors should be embarrassed. The team’s long-suffering fans, after years of dealing with this nonsense, should be livid."

View photos Dwane Casey, livid. (Getty Images) More

General manager Masai Ujiri — who didn't hire Casey (that was predecessor Bryan Colangelo) but did give him a three-year extension in May of 2014 — has worked to address the Raptors' defensive deficiencies. He used the 20th pick in the 2015 NBA draft on Utah guard (and BDL contributor) Delon Wright, a 6-foot-6 wing whose defensive instincts, anticipation and physical tools were widely praised before the draft. He moved on from a pair of backcourt designated hitters, reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams and backup point guard Greivis Vasquez. He spent $60 million on swing-spot stalwart DeMarre Carroll to lead a culture change, and signed D-first former first-rounders Cory Joseph and Bismack Biyombo in an attempt to build a smaller, quicker, more versatile and hopefully stouter defensive squad. He also gave center Jonas Valanciunas, a player with whom Casey has never seemed entirely comfortable, a new four-year, $64 million extension.

The current roster might not yet look exactly like what Ujiri has in mind for the Raptors' finished product. (Masai does love to tinker.) But after taking steps to shore up the leaky defense while still allowing Toronto to build around its All-Star backcourt of Lowry and DeMar DeRozan and crafting a roster capable of keeping that top-flight offense humming with more frequent sojourns into the sort of small-ball with which the Wizards killed the Raps in April, Ujiri's message to Casey seems clear: if we don't get better and go farther now, or if we start the season as sluggishly as we finished it, there might not be another vote of confidence coming your way.

Story continues