There were several vacancies for a head coaching position in the NBA during the playoffs. The other teams had already found their new leaders, but the Toronto Raptors took a bit longer to sign their replacement.
It was a bad season for the Raptors that had them missing out on the postseason after a loss against the Chicago Bulls in the play-in. Their 41-41 record marked the end of an era parting ways with Nick Nurse, who now coaches the Philadelphia 76ers.
Nurse made history with Toronto not too long ago. It was the 2018-2019 season when they won the title by taking down the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. Now they will be looking forward to a fresh start with an under-the-radar choice.
Who is Darko Rajakovic?
A wide range of big names became available this season. Not only Nurse was fired, but other championship winners like Mike Budenholzer and Doc Rivers along with former Coach of the Year Monty Williams had to find new jobs. However, the Raptors went another direction.
Toronto decided to hire Darko Rajakovic as their new head coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The current state of their roster seems to be destined for a rebuild, so it wasn’t going to be easy getting a high-profile coach.
Rajakovic was the main assistant coach of the Memphis Grizzlies the last three seasons, although the Serbian has nine years of experience in the league. His arrival was in 2012 as a G League coach, but he also moved forward in different roles. He was part of the coaching staff of the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2014-2019 and the Phoenix Suns in 2019-2020 before arriving in Memphis.
The 44-year-old was seen as the ideal candidate because he has experience developing young players. He did so while coaching Thunder’s affiliate team in the G League, but his best work probably was in the Grizzlies. He was an instrumental part of a team that has surprised the league with young starts like Ja Morant or Jared Jackson Jr, players that improved vastly in his time there.