The Toronto Raptors are also considering Darko Rajaković for their head coaching opening, sources told Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported last month that Rajaković is included within the large pool of candidates that the Raps were able to gain permission to get interviewed for their coaching vacancy.
Rajaković, 44, is a Serbian strategist who currently serves as an assistant under Taylor Jenkins in Memphis since 2020. He was also within the coaching staff of both the Oklahoma City Thunder (2014-2019) and the Phoenix Suns (2019-2020) from the previous years.
He came in as the head coach of the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA G League from 2012 to 2014, becoming the first head coach in NBA G League history that was born outside of North America.
In the COVID-stricken 2021-22 regular season, Rajaković managed to call the shots multiple times for the Grizzlies as Jenkins and his other fellow assistants were out due to health and safety protocols, tallying a 4-1 record as an interim coach. Following countryman Igor Kokoškov, he became the second European who guided an NBA team in a regular season game.
Praised for the solid bond and the added development he provided to the young players of Thunder, Suns and Grizzlies, Rajaković has been a coaching mainstay as an assistant for Serbia since the 2019 World Cup.
Doug Smith of the Toronto Star relayed from the past few days that Toronto is moving toward the second round of their coaching search, with team president Masai Ujiri already narrowing down his list of candidates who will potentially succeed Nick Nurse as the franchise’s newest bench boss. The likes of Jordi Fernandez, Sergio Scariolo, Steve Nash and JJ Reddick were reported as significant names tagged to the club.
Besides the Phoenix Suns, the Raptors remain as the only team that is yet to name a new head coach in the league.
