Darko Rajakovic's third season as head coach of the Toronto Raptors was undoubtedly his most successful, yet he is already focusing on the future. The Raptors coach, who led the team to a playoff run that ended in a Game 7 loss to Cleveland, is planning ahead with characteristic thoroughness.
Rajakovic's forward-looking approach
“I have already 40-50% of my first-team meeting ready for next year. Probably like two, three months ago I started already planning the summer, planning the next season, starting making a bunch of notes,” said Rajakovic, the 10th coach in franchise history. “That’s an ongoing process. That never stops. Obviously we’re gonna have a couple of weeks over here off. It really never stops. It’s constantly finding ways how to improve, how to get better, how to help players, how to stay in their corner.”
Rajakovic noted that he will work with his mental performance coach to enhance his own leadership skills. He is on track to surpass Lenny Wilkens for fourth on Toronto's all-time wins list early next season and has already tied Sam Mitchell with three playoff victories, trailing only Nick Nurse, Dwane Casey, and Wilkens. A contract extension is expected this summer.
Key takeaways from season-ending media availability
Speaking two days after Toronto's Game 7 loss in Cleveland, Rajakovic shared insights on several players and team strategy.
On Scottie Barnes' uniqueness
“We use him in post-ups, we use him in pick-and-rolls, as a handler, as a screener. He’s amazing in transition. There are a lot of things he’s doing. Just polishing those things and getting better in those things, getting better conditioned, getting his body in even better shape is gonna help with his overall game,” Rajakovic said after Barnes emerged as one of the top 15-20 players in the league and a top-five defender. “For this summer specifically, we’re gonna focus more on his skill development, on his ability to come up with a couple of moves on the dribble to be an even better finisher at the rim and to continue working on his shooting as well. Pretty much his overall game needs to take another jump.” Rajakovic believes Barnes can sustain his playoff level throughout a full regular season.
On building around Barnes
“Scottie’s a player that he just embraces any time of player around him. He’s trying to maximize guys around him. He’s gonna try to make the right play every time all around the court,” Rajakovic said. “He’s not playing agenda basketball. That’s what’s very special for him. He’s just trying to make the right play. When you look at the best players around the league, the best players to play this game, they have those traits. They have the traits of making the right play more often.”
On improving the team
“I think we did a good job this year with defence and the way we’re guarding the ball. I think us having more paint protection is something that we can take a look at. I think the continuing to develop offensive side of the ball with individual improvement of players, of their shooting, is going to be very, very important for us. So those are the main things for us to focus on,” he said.
Rajakovic wants Ja'Kobe Walter to get stronger and improve finishing inside, while Jamal Shead needs to become better at scoring in the paint. The team still believes in Gradey Dick but wants to see him improve as a defender and shooter. If Sandro Mamukelashvili re-signs, the plan is to help him work on his body and transition to more of a power forward and occasional small forward, rather than a backup centre.
On balancing Brandon Ingram
While Ingram led the team in scoring and often bailed out a weak offense, the team performed best when moving the ball quickly. Those are not Ingram's strengths, but Rajakovic sees potential. “For me, this past season was about getting back to playing and being healthy to sustain the whole season. But when I look at BI and what’s coming over the next five and a half months is taking his game to the next level – physically, the pace that we’re running with, the ability to run in transition,” Rajakovic said. “When I look at BI, I see a player that can rebound the ball on the defensive end and push the ball in transition. I need to put the ball in his hands more in the half court early in the shot clock, so he can make plays for his teammates because with his size and his skill he’s very capable of creating his own shot and also find his teammates. So, there is a lot of stuff that I’m really excited about when I look at his summer and when I look at what BI can do for us going forward.”
On Collin Murray-Boyles' potential
Rajakovic is a big fan of the outstanding rookie. “From the moment that he came to our team and in Summer League, he showed that he can be the player we can count on. When you have a rookie and you’re always thinking about what’s going to be his plan and how much he’s going to be playing in the G League with our 905 program, it was always pretty clear in September that he’s not going to be seeing a lot of minutes playing with 905,” Rajakovic said. “There’s just a lot of intangibles, a lot of things that he does on a nightly basis — how competitive he is, how hard he plays. It just gave us confidence from Day 1 that he’s going to be an important player in the rotation. And then his development over the course of the season was outstanding.”
“He’s an amazing human being. He cares so much about everybody. He’s somebody that we absolutely love over here. We’re so lucky to have him in our program.” Rajakovic wants to see Murray-Boyles improve his offensive versatility but is not overly concerned about his shooting development. “He needs to get stronger and faster, so he can sustain a long season.”
Rajakovic also praised the improvement of RJ Barrett at both ends of the floor this season.
