New HC Darko Rajakovic ready for challenges between Toronto’s two-way approaches

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri is fully confident of the franchise’s direction as they formally announced Darko Rajakovic as their latest bench boss.

“I know it’s change and sometimes change is hard,” Ujiri said, per TSN’s Josh Lewenberg. “But we believe change is good and change is a good thing for our ball club and our organization now.”

After five years of partnership, the Raptors ultimately decided to cut their ties with Nick Nurse. Nurse guided the club to three playoff appearances including its first ever NBA championship last 2018-19 season.

With the dismissal of Nurse, Toronto is set to welcome a refreshening voice on their sidelines with Rajakovic inheriting their coaching mantle, who is the only second coach born outside of the United States to lead an NBA team.

Rajakovic, 44, got plenty of experience as an assistant for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns and the Memphis Grizzlies. The Serbian mentor is widely regarded as promising in terms of building relationships with his team while cultivating growth in young players.

But the franchise remains stuck at the epicenter of attention by the league heading to an important offseason. Many are still murmuring about their unknown pathways moving forward — still undecided between rebuilding or still continuing to contend.

Regardless of the Raptors’ plans headed by Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster, the neophyte coach openly welcomes the impending challenges for him and the franchise.

Rajakovic was reportedly hired by Toronto as the club believes he can handle their two-way approaches. This can only manifest as he is confident to lead despite of the uncertainties.

“We did talk about it and those conversations are ongoing,” Rajakovic said of the team’s uncertain future. “But at the end of the day, Masai and Bobby are the ones responsible and they’re people I have absolute trust in. They’re going to make the right decisions, the best decisions for the team. 

“Whatever decisions those guys make, I’ll be able to follow their lead and to coach the team that we have in front of us.”