Darko Rajakovic

Raptors Notes: Schröder, Rajakovic, Barnes, Offense, Uzoh

October 28th, 2023 at 10:50am CST by Tristan Tucker

After Fred VanVleet departed the Raptors in free agency, Toronto was quick to sign Dennis Schröder to a two-year, $25.4MM contract. Schroder is the only player on the Raptors who has previous experience playing for head coach Darko Rajakovic, and that connection is already paying off, TSN’s Josh Lewenberg writes.

While there was some speculation that Scottie Barnes would assume most of the play-making duties after VanVleet left, respect was high between Schröder and Rajakovic from their time together with the Thunder, where Rajakovic served as an assistant, according to Lewenberg.

“[Schröder]’s an experienced point guard,” Rajakovic said. “We’re a new team, new terminology, new coaching staff. There’s so much new with our team and having somebody who’s been through different teams in that role of a point guard brings a calmness.”

Through his first two games as a Raptor, Schröder has been an effective passer (17 assists), an active defender, and a sound shooter (6-of-13 from deep).

“The relationship with me and Darko is great, and it’s honest,” Schröder said. “Whenever he’s got something to say he tells me, and I’ve got the same thing for him. And I think that’s what we’ve gotta do as a team, as well. When you put your egos to the side – and that’s what we did this summer with the national team – and it’s all about winning, then you can get into arguments and move on from it and get better. I think we’re moving in that direction with this team.”

We have more on the Raptors:

The Raptors got off to a great defensive start on Wednesday when they held the Timberwolves to 94 points and they have the personnel to be one of the best in the league in that regard, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. According to Koreen, Barnes holds the keys for the Raptors taking the next step on that end. “That’s where my game starts — on the defensive end, being able to go out there and guard anybody, taking pride in it,” the former Rookie of the Year said. “That’s just my mentality going into every game, trying to start off on defense. That leads to great offense with transition and that just leads me to stay on lockdown throughout the game.“
While Toronto’s defense has been effective, their half-court offense looks subpar through two games, Koreen writes in another piece. The Raptors committed 21 turnovers on Friday and fell to the Bulls in overtime.
Raptors president Masai Ujiri and new scout Ben Uzoh have a history together, as detailed by ESPN’s Leonard Solms. Ujiri was Denver’s general manager during Uzoh’s playing career and invited him to training camp in 2012. “Our paths were actually very organically separate,” Uzoh said. “It just kind of aligned. We crossed paths initially [during] my rookie year. I was rumored to be traded to his team when he was the GM of the Nuggets… It didn’t happen, but then they signed me to a training camp opportunity. That’s when I kind of got more in touch with him and more of an up close and personal type of connection with him.“

Atlantic Notes: Rajakovic, Boucher, Randle, Simmons

October 26th, 2023 at 9:01pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Raptors defeated the Timberwolves on Wednesday in the team’s opening game and new coach Darko Rajakovic‘s impact on Toronto was immediately apparent, writes The Athletic’s Eric Koreen. Even if things didn’t go perfectly, the Raptors tried to adhere to Rajakovic’s style, playing fast in transition, taking just 10 shots between the three-point line and the paint, and moving the ball.

There are still things the Raptors need to clean up, including the fact they scored just 97 points in the win, Koreen observes. But Rajakovic played 10 players and was quick to adapt his rotation as the game went on.

“I thought we still needed to play faster. What I mean by that is there were moments that we were coming past half court, and then we did not get into offense early enough and quickly enough,” Rajakovic said. “That’s something that we are still going to work on. It’s one of those things [where] we cannot just be watching each other. We’ve gotta be able to cut and drive and collapse [the opposing] defense and find open people.”

It’s been a long journey to Rajakovic’s first NBA win, as detailed in a lengthy piece from Sportsnet.ca’s Michael Grange. Despite that, he’s focusing on the now.

“I’m really staying with both feet on the ground,” Rajakovic said. “This is [an] amazing opportunity that I have to represent my country, to represent European basketball. But all I can do is my preparation for the next thing that is coming. I am struggling [against] making something really big out of it. I’m trying to stay with both feet on the ground and to be present.”

Rajakovic began his coaching career at 16 years old as a youth coach before coaching in Spain, the then-NBA D-League, and eventually as an assistant in the NBA, where he had stints with the Thunder, Suns and Grizzlies.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Grange further explores Rajakovic’s path to becoming the Raptors head coach, interviewing several of his former players. “I love picking apart the game, IQ-wise, and he has an extremely, extremely high basketball IQ,” current Wizards and former Grizzlies guard Tyus Jones said. “In games, practices, whenever we had a chance. He loves the game … and knows how to get the best out of people. I love Darko.” I recommend checking out Grange’s piece in full here.
Koreen notes that Chris Boucher was the odd man out of Rajakovic’s 10-man rotation on Wednesday, with Jalen McDaniels, Malachi Flynn and Gradey Dick the last three off the bench for the Raptors.
Knicks forward Julius Randle technically left money on the table two years ago by signing a four-year extension worth up to $117MM, as he would have been eligible to sign a five-year, $207MM deal by waiting a year, writes the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy. Then again, he had a disappointing 2021/22 season following a ’20/21 season in which he was All-NBA Second Team and would’ve been eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2022, so he may not have earned as much money by waiting anyway. Regardless, Randle has no regrets and is happy with the direction his decision sent the front office in. “I’ve always said, I want to win a championship here. Bring a championship here,” Randle said.
Nets guard Ben Simmons finished with 10 rebounds and nine assists in Brooklyn’s opener, looking effective for most of the night, The New York Post’s Brian Lewis writes. Even still, Simmons was benched in the fourth quarter of Brooklyn’s loss to the Cavaliers. Ultimately, head coach Jacque Vaughn played Dennis Smith Jr. over Simmons in crunch time. “Overall [Smith] was a part of that stretch that really got us back in the game,” Vaughn said. “It was the physicality which he played with that kind of permeated through the group.“

Raptors Seek To Have Knicks’ “Baseless” Lawsuit Dismissed

October 16th, 2023 at 4:37pm CST by Rory Maher

The Raptors have filed a motion in New York to dismiss the Knicks‘ lawsuit, which alleges that former employee Ikechukwu Azotam “illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to his new position” with Toronto, according to Mike Vorkunov, Eric Koreen and Fred Katz of The Athletic.

In the motion to dismiss, Toronto called the lawsuit “baseless” and “a public relations stunt by the Knicks,” per The Athletic.

Azotam, head coach Darko Rajakovic, development coach Noah Lewis and are among several defendants in the lawsuit.

“As the Knicks surely expected and presumably intended, the filing of this lawsuit — virtually unprecedented between two members of the NBA or, frankly, two teams in any North American professional sports league — generated significant publicity,” the motion to dismiss states. “The effect of such a public accusation of wrongdoing in federal court was to tarnish the stellar reputations of Messrs. Rajaković, Lewis and Azotam, as well as MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the Raptors’ parent company), and to chill present and future Knicks’ employees from their pursuit of employment with other members.”

To support the claim that the Knicks were seeking publicity rather than something legitimate, the Raptors put out a timeline of events in their filing, The Athletic’s trio writes. On August 18, a day after the Knicks told the Raptors about the allegations, Toronto said it had no interest in the “proprietary” data that Azotam took and would cooperate with New York. The Knicks filed the lawsuit the next business day, August 21.

The Knicks alleged that Rajakovic “recruited and used” Azotam as a “mole.” However, the Raptors’ filing says those allegations are “false and overblown” and that the data was not confidential, but rather “publicly available information.”

“These were not the Knicks’ team and player statistics, play frequency data, player tendencies or play calls, but rather those of other NBA teams — including particularly the Raptors’ own game film — compiled from video of their games accessible to all NBA teams (and, indeed, the general public). In other words, they were far from confidential, let alone trade secrets. The Knicks surely know this,” the motion states, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.

“As we have previously stated, given the theft of proprietary and confidential files and clear violation of criminal and civil law, we were left no choice but to take this to federal court and are confident the judicial system will agree,” a Knicks spokesperson said in reply to the filing.

According to Holmes, the Raptors believe that the dispute should be handled by commissioner Adam Silver instead of a federal judge, pursuant to a bylaw in the NBA’s constitution that reads, “The Commissioner shall have exclusive, full, complete, and final jurisdiction of any dispute involving two (2) or more Members of the Association.”

Obviously the Knicks disagreed, arguing the NBA doesn’t have “exclusive authority over criminal matters.” NBA general counsel Rich Buchanan later told the two teams that the league would abide by the judge’s decision on if the lawsuit should be decided by the NBA or the court.

Raptors Notes: Rajakovic, Lillard, Siakam, VanVleet

October 3rd, 2023 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams

The arrival of new Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic looks like a reason for optimism in Toronto, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca, who says that Rajakovic is bringing a “people-first” approach to his new role and appears to be connecting quickly with his players.

Scottie Barnes said on Monday that he loves the “energy” and “joy” Rajakovic brings to the job, while Gary Trent Jr. told reporters that the coach’s communication has been “great,” noting that Rajakovic is interested in talking to his players about topics beyond basketball.

“I’ve been in the NBA six years and I’ve had more conversations with him (outside of basketball) than with any coach I’ve ever had,” Trent said, per Lewenberg. “It’s been refreshing.”

The start of Rajakovic’s first NBA head coaching job has been marred to some extent by a lawsuit filed by the Knicks which claims that a former Knick employee shared proprietary information with Rajokovic and the Raptors after being hired by the franchise. The Raptors, who issued a statement in August disputing the claims in the suit, downplayed the case again on Monday, as William Lou of Sportsnet.ca writes.

“I know who I am. I know how my parents raised me. I know what I see in the mirror,” Rajakovic said in maintaining his innocence. “I cannot wait for this lawsuit to be over so everyone can see the truth.”

Here’s more out of Toronto:

Speaking to Danielle Michaud of Sportsnet, Raptors general manager Bobby Webster confirmed that the team’s interest in Damian Lillard was real. “You’d have to ask (the Trail Blazers),” Webster said when asked how close Toronto got to landing Lillard. “We were very aggressive. I’d say probably the biggest offer we’ve ever made for a player, but it’s up to them to accept it and so I think that’s, you know, you kind of never know what tilted a deal towards you or not. But maybe time will tell, we’ll find out.”
Pascal Siakam pushed back against any implication that he might have been one of the Raptors who played selfishly last season, as Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca relays. “I’ll speak for me, personally, I’ve never been a selfish player in my life,” Siakam said. “I’ve always played the game the right way and that’s from the first time I started playing basketball. I’ve always been a team player. All the things that I do on the basketball court is about the team and I’ve been like that my whole career.”
The free agency departure of veteran point guard Fred VanVleet was one of the topics Raptors president Masai Ujiri addressed on Monday, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. “Could we have traded Fred at the trade deadline? If that was a failure, we take responsibility for it,” Ujiri said. “Sometimes it depends on opportunity and respect (for) the player. We respected Fred. Fred decided to go somewhere, to better opportunities. It was good for him. Maybe it was good for us, too.”
The Raptors are one of five teams that John Hollinger of The Athletic is confident will beat their consensus over/under (36.5 wins) this season. While Hollinger acknowledges that going to VanVleet to Dennis Schröder is a downgrade at point guard, he notes that Toronto won 41 games in a down year last season, played better after acquiring Jakob Poeltl, and will have incentive to be as good as possible, since San Antonio owns the Raptors’ top-six protected 2024 first-round pick.

Atlantic Notes: World Cup Effects, Knicks, Schröder, Porzingis

September 14th, 2023 at 9:29am CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks and Nets may benefit from having star players involved in the World Cup this summer, writes Ian Begley of SNY.tv. New York’s Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart were both starters for Team USA, while RJ Barrett was an important member of the Canadian squad that captured the bronze medal. Brooklyn’s Mikal Bridges also started for the Americans and Cameron Johnson was on the team, although he didn’t play as much.

Begley cites research from ESPN’s Kevin Pelton (subscription required), who studied the NBA performance of players from 2010 to 2021 after they took part in international competitions. Pelton found they averaged 2.1 points per 100 possessions above the league average.

At last year’s training camp, Begley talked to Evan Fournier, a veteran of international basketball with the French team, about what it’s like to go straight from a tournament to an NBA season with almost no rest in between.

“It really hits you in December; you have the first wave of fatigue,” Fournier said. “It’s not my first time dealing with it, so I know how to manage myself. I know being in the weight room is going to be very important. Sleep is going to be very important, but … I’ll be all right.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Knicks are optimistic after advancing to the conference semifinals last season, but a lack of height at the wings could be a concern, observes Zach Braziller of The New York Post (subscription required). Apart from Barrett, New York has to rely on undersized options such as Hart, Quentin Grimes and Donte DiVincenzo.
Dennis Schröder told “NBA Today” that new head coach Darko Rajakovic played an important role in his decision to sign with the Raptors (Twitter link from ClutchPoints). “I think Darko, the head coach,” Schröder said. “… I met him five years ago in OKC. We became friends. … I definitely said to my agent, ‘I want be there.’ … I think it’s a great fit.”
The Celtics‘ trade for Kristaps Porzingis was the best offseason move in the Atlantic Division, David Aldridge of The Athletic contends in a discussion of the division with other Athletic writers. However, Aldridge, Josh Robbins and Jared Weiss all agree that Boston took a risk regarding team culture by parting with Marcus Smart in the deal and not keeping Grant Williams. Robbins and Weiss cite the Sixers‘ coaching change, replacing Doc Rivers with Nick Nurse, as the most impactful move.

Raptors Respond To Lawsuit; Knicks Allege Former Employee Was ‘Mole’

August 21st, 2023 at 7:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors and the team’s parent company, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, expressed surprise that the Knicks filed a lawsuit against them regarding alleged proprietary violations and issued a denial that the company was involved, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets via a Raptors press release.

The Knicks filed the lawsuit on Monday alleging that former employee Ikechukwu Azotam “illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to his new position” with the Raptors. Azotam, who was hired away by Toronto this offseason, allegedly shared the proprietary information with “several members” of the team, including head coach Darko Rajakovic and player development coach Noah Lewis.

“MLSE and the Toronto Raptors received a letter from MSG on Thursday of last week bringing this complaint to our attention,” Toronto’s response reads. “MLSE responded promptly, making clear our intention to conduct an internal investigation and to fully cooperate. MLSE has not been advised that a lawsuit was being filed or has been filed following its correspondence with MSG. The company strongly denies any involvement in the matters alleged. MLSE and the Toronto Raptors will reserve further comment until this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties.”

The Knicks allege that not only did Rajakovic know what was occurring but that he “recruited and used” Azotam to help him build out the operations for his coaching staff, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz, Mike Vornukov and Eric Koreen.

The lawsuit alleges that the information Azotam forwarded to the Raptors included scouting reports, play frequency reports, a prep book, and a link to third-party licensed software. It also alleges that “Defendant Rajaković and the other Raptor Defendants recruited and used Azotam to serve as a mole within the Knicks organization to convey information that would assist the Raptors Defendants in trying to manage their team.”

The Athletic trio received a written statement from an MSG Sports spokesperson which stated that “we were left no choice but to take this action.”

Knicks File Lawsuit Against Raptors, Former NYK Employee

August 21st, 2023 at 3:08pm CST by Rory Maher

The Knicks filed a lawsuit on Monday alleging that former employee Ikechukwu Azotam “illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to his new position” with the Raptors, which he then shared with his new club, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter thread).

Azotam, who was hired away by Toronto this offseason, allegedly shared the proprietary information with “several members” of the team, including head coach Darko Rajakovic and player development coach Noah Lewis, Begley adds.

The lawsuit alleges Azotam signed a confidentiality agreement with the Knicks which required him “to maintain the secrecy of all confidential or proprietary Knicks information.” A source tells Begley the Knicks contacted both the Raptors and the NBA prior to filing the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York.

According to Begley, the lawsuit also alleges that the Raptors “directed Azotam to misuse his access to the Knicks’ subscription to Synergy Sports to create and then transfer to the Raptors Defendants over 3,000 files consisting of film information and data.”

A Madision Square Garden Sports spokesperson released a statement to Begley regarding the lawsuit (Twitter thread).

“The New York Knicks have sued the Toronto Raptors and several members of their organization, including a former Knicks employee, after the former employee illegally took thousands of proprietary files with him to his new position with the Toronto Raptors. These files include confidential information such as play frequency reports, a prep book for the 2022-23 season, video scouting files and materials and more.

“Given the clear violation of our employment agreement, criminal and civil law, we were left no choice but to take this action.”

[UPDATE: Raptors Respond To Lawsuit]

In addition to Azotam, Rajakovic, and Lewis, 10 other Raptors employees are also accused of wrongdoing, tweets Steve Popper of Newsday. Those employees are currently unknown — they’re listed as John Does “1” through “10.”

Atlantic Notes: Rajakovic, Randle, R. Williams

August 2nd, 2023 at 11:15pm CST by Rory Maher

In a fascinating profile, Eric Koreen of The Athletic details Darko Rajakovic‘s journey to becoming the Raptors‘ new head coach.

Rajakovic got his NBA start thanks to his relationship with Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti, first in the then-D-League and later with Oklahoma City. Presti met Rajakovic in Europe as a young executive with the Spurs, and was impressed by his attention to detail, passion and work ethic, Koreen writes.

“He’s fought himself all the way to this point,” Presti said. “I think there is a level of toughness that comes with that, to work that path the way that he did, to get to the point where he’s the head coach of an NBA team. I don’t know how you can’t respect that and also be extremely happy for him.”

As Koreen notes, one of Rajakovic’s strengths is his adaptability, which should come in handy with Toronto’s roster in a somewhat precarious position entering 2023/24. It’s an excellent article and I highly recommend it for those who subscribe to The Athletic.

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

Left ankle problems plagued Julius Randle to end last season, but the Knicks‘ All-NBA forward believes undergoing arthroscopic surgery a couple months ago may have been a blessing in disguise, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News relays. “Me and my trainer were just talking about this, we were talking about prime years,” Randle said Wednesday as a guest on The Shop Uninterrupted. “And I feel like your prime is when your mental and physical kind of meet. And physically I feel like this is going to be my best year. But mentally I feel like I’ve taken a tremendous step because I’ve had to slow all the way down. I wasn’t allowed to train.” Randle also said he drew inspiration from teammate Jalen Brunson due to the point guard’s diligence and focus, per Bondy.
What’s next for Robert Williams following the arrival of Kristaps Porzingis? The Celtics big man needs to become more aggressive offensively, dribble more often, and add a short-range jump shot to keep opposing defenses honest, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Of course, the biggest question mark surrounding Williams might not be his on-court play but rather his health, given that he has appeared in just 209 regular season games over his five NBA seasons, including 35 in ’23/24.
In case you missed it, the Knicks, Raptors and Celtics all officially made roster moves on Tuesday.

Atlantic Notes: Mazzulla, Bridges, Thibodeau, Rajaković

July 30th, 2023 at 1:48pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Despite moving 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart and key reserve forward Grant Williams in separate summer trades, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla intends to employ similar defensive principles in 2023/24, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.

Himmelsbach adds that newly acquired big man Kristaps Porzingis has always been a solid defender around the rim, and can aid Boston at that end of the floor, too.

“With Marcus gone, we don’t want our defensive identity to go out the door as well, so we have to really emphasize that at the start of training camp,” Mazzulla said. “I think what Kristaps can bring to us defensively, and the additions some of our other guys can bring to us defensively, I want to make sure that’s where we hang our hats this year.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

As the Nets’ No. 1 option, small forward Mikal Bridges is striving to hone his play-making this offseason, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscriber link). “Yeah, you could do [drills] … but it’s more of a mindset, and having that mindset coming in and watching film,” Bridges said of how he intended to improve. “That’s the biggest thing, to have that mindset of playmaking.”
The 2023/24 Knicks roster has been constructed with an eye towards the preferences of head coach Tom Thibodeau, under whom the team has had its most success in years, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. Braziller notes that the trade addition of Josh Hart and the signing of Donte DiVincenzo, two defensively versatile wings, plus the subtractions of talented-but-raw forwards Cam Reddish and Obi Toppin, all seem to be in line with Thibodeau’s ethos to team-building.
In an interview with Sportski zurnal (as translated by Eurohoops), new Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković explained how he has always had major goals in mind with regard to his coaching career. “Since the beginning of my coaching career, I have always been very ambitious, but at the same time I knew that a coaching career is not a 100-meter race, but a long marathon,” Rajaković said. “I have only just run half a marathon, I still have a long way to go. I am currently in my 27th year of coaching. of work and I hope that I will stay in coaching for as long as possible. I’m enjoying it and it’s nice.”

Raptors Notes: Dick, Boucher, Rajakovic, Anunoby

June 26th, 2023 at 7:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Raptors first-round pick Gradey Dick has quickly become a fan favorite and he’s enjoying the vibe he’s gotten in Toronto, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes.

“I’ve talked about it a lot, this team stuff — and even before the draft. I wanted to be in an organization where I could find that good fit in it, but also be in a winning culture with a fan base that’s not like anybody else, and I think I hit the jackpot … coming here,” Dick said. “Walking down the street and families coming up, the first thing they say is: ‘Welcome to Toronto. We’re glad to have you.’ And I think that’s what we like to hear the most, rather than a quick: ‘Hi, bye.’”

The Kansas product, who was selected with the No. 13 overall pick, is expected to appear in some Summer League contests in Las Vegas.

We have more on the Raptors:

Dick adds an element that the team has lacked in recent seasons, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic. They needed a natural shot-maker and Dick, who’s more versatile than a typical corner shooter, fits that bill. However, he has to prove he’s a capable defender in order to stay on the floor for long stretches.
Big man Chris Boucher believes Darko Rajakovic was a perfect choice to replace Nick Nurse, he told Smith, believing he’ll relate to the players very well. Nurse reportedly had strained relationships with some of his players. “He’s definitely a special coach. You can tell he’s probably going to change a lot of stuff, but it seems like it’s something we needed,” Boucher said. “He’s really focusing on the players and making sure that we’re good. The first thing he said — he said it every day that I saw him — (is) it’s not about (him), it’s about you guys. And I think that’s something that will really help us get better.”
Forward OG Anunoby is changing representatives, as he’s decided to leave Klutch Sports, according to Marc Stein in his latest Substack post. The Raptors continue to resist trade inquiries for Anunoby.

Load More Posts