The Toronto Raptors are locking in their head coach for the future, committing to stability amidst a time of great uncertainty in the league.
While it may seem like 2018 is just repeating itself over and over again, the Raptors’ front office is not trying to make a Dwane Casey out of Darko Rajaković, and is making a commitment to his vision continuing, even into the next era of Raptors’ basketball. “We’re thrilled to extend Darko,” said general manager Bobby Webster. “Darko’s strong development philosophy
and commitment to a team-first culture shine through on a daily basis.”
Rajaković’s advocacy for his players and focus on team success over individual shine suits the current circumstances of the Raptors. There is still developmental work to be done with Allen Graves potentially ready to contribute early, and neither is he unwilling to let stars shine. Rajaković has called Scottie Barnes a future MVP/FMVP, and had the guts to make the difficult choice to stop running the offence through Brandon Ingram in the last playoff series. Rajaković’s relationship with the team feels strong. His players seem to have faith in their coach, and have bought into his coaching philosophy. Really, that’s all you want from an NBA head coach: a general, whose players wake up excited to fight for.
“I’m proud of the progress we’ve made, but our team knows there is still a lot of work to do,” said Rajaković. And indeed there is, with Rajaković will be here to see the job through, it seems. The Raps are in a unique position in that they’ve only been a contender for a year, so the adding of Kawhi Leonard isn’t a matter of respite from bashing your head against the wall, like it was last time. The environment hasn’t yet been stained with toxicity and exhaustion that so often results in a shakeup at coach, and so Rajaković will continue his leadership, this time, with a roster that seems like it could make a real, genuine swing for a championship in the next few years. Webster and the front office have not revealed how long the coach has been extended for, citing team policy. Webster himself was just locked into a longer contract last month.
Seeing whether Rajaković will be able to mold the Raptors into a true contender built around a premiere scorer and a premiere defender will be the coaching story to watch this season, especially considering the mystery that is the current state of Jakob Poeltl’s health. If the big man can get healthy and stay healthy, Rajaković will have an essentially complete roster to work with, and a period of true contention will begin. But, if the Raptors’ roster doesn’t get its glaring issues solved, Rajaković could be stuck trying to build a house of cards while missing the King of Diamonds.
