The Toronto Raptors have concluded their long coaching search and they will be hiring Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach Darko Rajakovic, first reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Beginning his coaching career in Serbia, Rajakovic went on to coach in Spain before taking on the head coaching role for the Tulsa 66ers in the NBA Development League, now the NBA G League. After two years in Tulsa, he went on to serve as an assistant with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns and most recently the Memphis Grizzlies.

Viewed as one of the rising coaching candidates in the league, Rajakovic emerged early on in the Raptors head coaching search given his track record in player development and the success he had in Memphis as a lead assistant for Taylor Jenkins.

Rajakovic now gets his first chance to be a head coach in the NBA for the Raptors, an organization that currently finds themselves at a crossroads entering the offseason.

Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. both have player options that they could opt out of to become unrestricted free agents this summer and Toronto is an organization rival teams around the league are viewing as a team who could jump around quite a bit during the 2023 NBA Draft on June 22. The Raptors own the 13th overall pick this offseason and they could possibly explore options to move up inside the Top-5 of this year's draft.

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Regardless of what the Raptors decide to do in the offseason, Rajakovic will have 2021-22 NBA Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes as his focal point moving forward. As Wojnarowski states, Toronto wanted a coach who could keep this team a contender should they stay on their current path this offseason or aid the franchise in developing a roster that would be rebuilding. Given his experience both overseas and in the league, Rajakovic emerged as the Raptors' top choice and will be their head coach for the foreseeable future.

The Raptors finished the 2022-23 NBA season with a 41-41 record, missing the postseason for just the second time in the last ten seasons.