The Toronto Raptors shocked the NBA when they made a coaching staff change bringing in former-assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies Darko Rajaković, in what is his first head-coaching job in the league. Taking over a roster that is deemed to be nowhere near in legitimate playoff contention may actually be favorable for the Serbian as it places ‘less expectations’ on him to succeed right away, according to NBA writer Mark Medina.

NBA news – Toronto Raptors

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Toronto Raptors hired former Memphis Grizzlies assistant, Darko Rajaković as their new head coach succeeding Nick Nurse. The team relieved him of his duties after five seasons in charge where he won them their lone NBA championship in 2019.

Per Eric Koreen of The Athletic, Raptors GM Masai Ujiri’s appointment of the Serbian is just one move in the organization’s “proper rebuilding path”, noting that Ujiri saw the potential in the 44-year-old, who is known to be far from the ‘traditional NBA coach’.

The report further suggests that Ujiri is looking to capitalize on the ‘opportunistic’ roster construction style, with Koreen noting that Rajaković has an ‘untraditional team’ in that their two best play-makers in Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes are big forwards, as opposed to being guards, with the roster deemed to lack overall shooting ability.

The European first appeared on the NBA’s radar in 2012 when he became the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s then D-League team, formerly known as the Tulsa 66ers. After a successful two-season stint in the D-League (now rebranded as the G-League), he joined the OKC coaching staff as an assistant, before moving on to both the Phoenix Suns and then the Memphis Grizzlies where he became the top assistant to Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, per ESPN.

Toronto are currently in a state of uncertainty, whereby they face the major franchise decision of whether to blow up the roster completely and trade away two-time All-Star, Pascal Siakam, in favor of a rebuild, or whether they choose to cling on being on the cusp of playoff contention with the veteran roster they currently have.

Regardless of the route they choose to go down, the franchise believes that Darko Rajaković is the man to lead them to success either way.

What does Mark Medina make of the Toronto Raptors hiring Darko Rajaković?

Medina believes that although there will certainly be some growing pains as a result of being a first-year head coach, the Raptors have made a great decision in bringing in the former Memphis assistant.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the esteemed NBA journalist said:

“The Raptors made a great hire. Rajaković has become a rising star in the NBA’s coaching ranks with Oklahoma City’s G League team, the Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies. He also knows the game from an international perspective because of his ties with Serbia.”

“Rajaković will experience growing pains as a first-year head coach, but I trust he will eventually succeed. It also helps that the Raptors could be a team that either competes for the playoffs or starts a rebuild, which would place less expectations on Rajaković to succeed right away.”

How did the Toronto Raptors perform last season?

The Toronto Raptors spent much of last season on the outside looking in and finished the regular season with a .500 record of 41-41, which earned them a spot in the play-in tournament as the No. 9 seed.

However, they failed to beat the Chicago Bulls who were seeded at No. 10 in a 109-105 loss, after falling behind very late despite having a nine-point lead heading into the final quarter of play.

The loss, which ultimately ended their 2023 playoff hopes, was largely overshadowed by Bulls star DeMar DeRozan’s daughter after her antics were thought to be a facilitator of the Raptors’ free-throw shooting woes. They made a measly 50% of their 36 free-throw attempts, subsequently ending head coach Nick Nurse’s tenure with the only Canadian team in the NBA.

As per Clutch Points, the Raptors finished last season winning 65.9% of their games at home, while only winning 34.1% of their games on the road. They won 59% of their games when the final score was within 10 points, with a 23-16 record. However, this win-rate percentage dropped to 28.6% when the game was separated by three points or fewer, with a 4-10 record.

It is clear that the Toronto Raptors have now entered a period of large transition as they seek to become genuine playoff challengers, and they believe that Darko Rajakovic will succeed in achieving the long-term goals that the Raptors organization have laid out.

Whether his success with the team will be immediate, though, is difficult to predict.