Woj: Raps Hire Darko Rajakovic - Live Stream PG 39

[WuTang_CMB]

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But even as the Raptors are set to miss the playoffs for the second straight year under Rajaković, there is a sense of stability, optimism and even buoyancy around the team.

A big reason is Rajaković himself, as the espresso aficionado has somehow been able to get his roster to buy in on individual improvement and team-wide effort and execution, even while fulfilling the organizational mandate to use this season as an opportunity to nab as high a draft pick as feasible.

It’s what the Raptors were hoping for when they hired the highly regarded veteran coach from Serbia who had previously worked as an assistant in Oklahoma City, Phoenix and Memphis. There was a question about his lack of head coaching experience in North America, save for 100 games with Oklahoma City’s G League team a decade before, but over time doubts have fallen away, one by one.

It’s why, Sportsnet has learned, the Raptors quietly reached out to Rajaković during the off-season and picked up the fourth-year team option on the 'three-and-one' contract he signed with Toronto in the summer of 2023.

The decision went under the radar in part because it’s rare a team exercises their option on a contract two seasons ahead of time, and even less so when a first-year coach is coming off a 25-57 season. But it spoke to the organization wanting to be a good faith partner heading into a rebuilding season and also the belief that Rajaković had shown he was the right person to help them pivot towards being competitive again sooner than later.

"The players respect him. He works well with the front office, the team has gotten better," said one source. "He’s a serious guy. He’s building a program here. Darko’s a dude."

Or, more simply, as Raptors' cornerstone Scottie Barnes put it when I asked him about Rajaković earlier this season: "Man, Darko, the GOAT (Greatest of All Time)."

It speaks to the magic trick Rajaković has somehow been able to conjure up: demanding accountability and effort, without the promise of winning.

"He’s managed to walk an incredibly fine line," said one source close to Rajaković. "It’s easy for things to go the other way in a situation like this. When you’re coaching a team like the Celtics there is one set of expectations and when it’s the Wizards there’s another, but at least everyone knows what they are. To get players — young guys and veterans alike — to buy in on what the Raptors are trying to do is remarkable."

Now, it’s a little early to anoint Rajaković as coach for life: The man hasn’t called a timeout in a playoff game yet. But the 46-year-old is in with both feet if he gets the chance.

"My personal opinion is that in order to have sustained success, not just success, sustained success, you need to have continuity in the work," Rajaković said when we spoke recently. "And I think that's important from a front office, from the roster, from the coaching staff you have — I think all of those ingredients are very important in building a team that's going to be sustained for a long time and to have a lot of success.

"So definitely, if you asked me today, tomorrow I'm going to sign a 10-year contract extension. I love the city. I love the people. We have the best fans in the world. I'm absolutely thrilled for the opportunity to build something very special here."

But even having the final year of his contract picked up was a welcome signal that Rajaković and the front office were in alignment, and it’s made what could have been a difficult season — the Raptors lost 16 of 17 games at one point — a shared exercise in bigger-picture thinking.

[kalel123]

I'm indifferent to this. Coaches get fired mid-contract all the time. This at least eliminates any question marks or distraction with regards to his contract status next season so they can just focus on important things. But next season is, or should be, the definitive litmus test for all involved on the team from top to bottom IMO. Absolutely no excuses. Not even injuries because by now, everyone knows the risk and they still took it.

[Raps in 4]

Unpopular opinion but, like Masai, Darko deserves his flowers for this season.

He’s shown he can lose.
He’s shown he can win.
He’s shown he can develop players.
Most importantly, he’s shown he can keep a locker room together and the spirits of players up even when one of the worst in the league.

I think the Raptors are a playoff team next year (top 6)

Not losing the locker room during a season like this, especially with young players (who are probably emotionally immature), is impressive. I was afraid his Ted Lasso schtick would wear off, but it seems he has it figured out.

[raptor jesus]

Last year I was really impressed with what he did with the offense. Yeah, the numbers weren't great, but that fact he completely changed the style of play in in such short order says something about his ability to coach. The defense was a disaster last season, though, so that's where I wanted to see improvement this year, and Darko checked that box. Next season, let's hope he improves his success rate with his challenges.

[WuTang_CMB]

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[Raps in 4]

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This reflects well on our FO.

[YogurtProducer]

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This reflects well on our FO.

Was gonna say. That had to be part of the conversation of "hey, you are gonna be leading a tank in 2023/24 and 2024/25. We will give you the opportunity to actually "coach" in 2025/26 and 2026/27".

Picking up the option is a sign of goodwill they are serious

[WuTang_CMB]

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This reflects well on our FO.

Was gonna say. That had to be part of the conversation of "hey, you are gonna be leading a tank in 2023/24 and 2024/25. We will give you the opportunity to actually "coach" in 2025/26 and 2026/27".

Picking up the option is a sign of goodwill they are serious

There wasn't any doubt for me that they were going to give him every opportunity to coach a real team once they acquired enough talent to climb out of the bottom

[WuTang_CMB]

Sounds like what we heard through the media was true .. and that last year was a real focus on the offense and this year was a real focus on the defense

next year let's put it all together

[Johnny Bball]

This reflects well on our FO.

Was gonna say. That had to be part of the conversation of "hey, you are gonna be leading a tank in 2023/24 and 2024/25. We will give you the opportunity to actually "coach" in 2025/26 and 2026/27".

Picking up the option is a sign of goodwill they are serious

There wasn't any doubt for me that they were going to give him every opportunity to coach a real team once they acquired enough talent to climb out of the bottom

Yeah I never understood how anyone could think management would just use the guy and sell him out without a shot. Its just not how anyone does business.

[djsunyc]

hot take, if darko was the coach of the team when we acquired yak, we would be a top team in the league now

[Jerry Lucas]

hot take, if darko was the coach of the team when we acquired yak, we would be a top team in the league now

This hypothetical isn't even worth thinking about, because Darko was still an assistant coach with Memphis during the 2022-23 season, and they wouldn't have let him leave mid-season to go to another organization. Raptors would have had to promote from within like Memphis did this season after firing Jenkins, if they decided to fire Nurse mid-season when he already had 1 foot out the door (which they almost certainly knew before the public did).

[Tripod]

Coach of the year finalist next year

[WuTang_CMB]

Coach of the year finalist next year

Curious what odds will be. I’d wager on that for sure. Especially if we get lucky in lottery

[WuTang_CMB]

https://www.tsn.ca/talent/nba/josh-lewenberg-raptors-confident-rajakovic-can-lead-them-through-next-phase-of-rebuild-and-beyond-1.2281390

[WuTang_CMB]

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[RaptorLakerJay]

Jakobe talked about how Darko called him out during a timeout. I love that he's tough on them in private!
Starts at 3:41

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[Dalek]

I think Darko turned things around from what was a very depressing stretch in December where this was a team that looked rudderless.

What changed for me was the overnight commitment to defense that paid off from mid January onwards. This team looked its best when we had Davion Mitchell hounding guys like Steph Curry into terrible shooting nights. It looked great when Jamal and Mogbo got more defensive run. We also added a bunch of hungry young players looking for contracts who showed out on defense.

Now, my open question is when the true starters and bench are together we have some negative defenders that will harm the defense:

RJ Barrett - played better for stretches but he is just not a multi-effort guy and has mediocre feet to stay on top of guards and isn't big enough for most SFs.

IQ - Still looks like a sub-200 lbs guard who is not great with any sort of contact and is more of a lengthy team defender who picks his spots. I don't see him winning any match-ups against elite guys. I think players like Curry or Brunson show how he is one to two tiers lower.

Gradey Dick - The team started him a lot and he was hot and cold offensively and neutral to bad on defense. He is a weak body, but at least is 6'8 so there is some hope.

Ja'Kobe Walter - Probably has a good shot at being a plus defender but he still is a couple years away.

Brandon Ingram - Is not likely to be a high impact defender as he just hasn't been committed in his career.

If the team is serious about winning, we probably need to move a couple of the above. Those are too many weak points to manage and the offense is not good enough to out score opponents either. I don't know how Darko can manage that unless change is made to roster composition. I'd firstly move off of IQ.

[MEDIC]

Jakobe talked about how Darko called him out during a timeout. I love that he's tough on them in private!
Starts at 3:41

Watch on YouTube

I liked what he had to say. Even though he was very good defensively this season, he talked about continuing to get better defensively. Mentioned Kawhi & how he looks up to him as a 2 way player.

You can tell.he really wants to become a high calibre 2 way player in this league.

I would love to see him get more reps at PG & as our primary on ball defender.

[yellowknifer]

I'm indifferent to this. Coaches get fired mid-contract all the time. This at least eliminates any question marks or distraction with regards to his contract status next season so they can just focus on important things. But next season is, or should be, the definitive litmus test for all involved on the team from top to bottom IMO. Absolutely no excuses. Not even injuries because by now, everyone knows the risk and they still took it.

Depends on how the draft plays out how the team tries to adjust with injuries, IMO. I truly believe in Darko having watched him the past few. The improvement in literally everyone’s game, but most especially Boucher, has been significant. Credit the players, but when I watch us when we are playing with intensity and aren’t totally overmatched I see a really nice version of basketball on offense and guys only improving on defense. We played a difficult defensive system that requires good rotations and awareness. The kind of system that coaches trust with quality veteran players that are pluses on defense. Guys figured it out as the season went on. He has the right amount of patience for mistakes for a young team. We will see if this translates when we are trying to win.

He draws nice plays out of timeouts pretty consistently.

He did some really weird things with rotations this year, but it honestly felt deliberate. I don’t think the front office really wanted to win this year unless Scotty took a huge leap on both ends and so did some other guys. Scotty took a big step on defense. But he missed on offense. We only need a consistent finisher and elite ball handler to take the next step. He needs to be excellent. It’s not a small ask. We need more depth with our bigs too. I love Chomches potential but that injury really sucked. Hopefully it’s an aberration because he displays insane skills for a guy his size. Mentally, he has a lot to work on and he could have used those raps late this season. I think his upside is insanely high. I know some scouts felt the same. Ujiri feels the same based on his press conference.