Raptors hire Darko Rajakovic as team’s 10th head coach

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The man tasked with returning the Toronto Raptors to NBA relevance is Darko Rajakovic.

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Rajakovic, 44, will become the 10th head coach in Raptors history, ESPN first reported Saturday afternoon. The decision ended a long search that began when Nick Nurse was fired shortly after a disappointing 41-41 season ended with a play-in loss against the Chicago Bulls.

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Rajakovic has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies, including time as the team’s lead assistant. Only four franchises won more regular season games than the Grizzlies in that span.

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Rajakovic, who hails from Serbia, becomes just the second NBA head coach born outside of North America. Previously, Rajakovic was the head coach of the G-League’s Tulsa 66ers from 2012-14, before he was called up to the Oklahoma City Thunder where he worked under Scott Brooks and Billy Donovan. He then spent a year as an assistant to Monty Williams in Phoenix before joining Taylor Jenkins in Memphis.

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It’s still unclear whether the Raptors intend to continue with much of the current roster (Fred VanVleet, Jakob Poeltl and Gary Trent Jr. are poised to shortly become become unrestricted free agents) and hope for a surprise or two in the playoffs, or take more of a long-term view and build around Scottie Barnes and perhaps assets acquired via selling off some of the team’s older talent.

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In Rajakovic, the team clearly feels it has found someone who can handle either course. Rajakovic has gained a reputation as being strong at player development, but also held a key post on contending Memphis teams in recent years and earlier with Thunder teams that included the likes of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Toronto interviewed or considered a long list of candidates, including former Nick Nurse Raptors assistant Sergio Scariolo, who took to Twitter to congratulate Rajakovic, as did Grizzlies standout guard Desmond Bane, who said of Rajakovic: “Definitely deserves it.”

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Fellow ex-Nurse assistant Adrian Griffin, Canadian hoops icon Steve Nash, former players JJ Redick and Becky Hammon, and a host of others were also considered for the gig.

Rajakovic began coaching as a teenager back in Serbia, and spent time learning under NCAA legends Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and Lute Olsen at Arizona, as well as years as a coach at NBA Summer League before getting the head coaching job at Tulsa.

Toronto will select 13th overall at the June 22 NBA draft and free agency and the Vegas summer schedule will follow closely.

Rajakovic will have a lot of staffing hires to make, with most of Nurse’s crew and the developmental coaches now gone.

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