Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic is emphasizing a focus on developing the team's young talent this season. Rajakovic and team president Masai Ujiri acknowledge the team is in a rebuilding phase after significant roster changes last season.
TORONTO – Head coach Darko Rajakovic is putting on his foreman’s helmet as the Toronto Raptors lean into developing their young core this season.
“A lot of the time, from the street, you cannot see what’s going on. You cannot see the results very quickly. But those are the most important steps we’re going to be making right now.”Ujiri tore the Raptors roster down last season in a series of trades that essentially ended Toronto’s 2019 NBA championship era. That included sending steady defenders O.G. Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa to the New York Knicks for Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont.
In the past, Ujiri had called the Raptors’ overhaul a refresh or a reset, but he declared it a rebuild on Monday. He also said it’s not the players’ job to worry about it.“I don’t want them to talk about rebuilding — that’s me,” said Ujiri. “They should be talking about winning and they should be talking about playing and competing.
“So don’t get frustrated throughout that process and just keep trying to focus on our main goal, try to get better and focus on that picture.”Barrett and Quickley were traded from New York to Toronto on Dec. 30. Because the Knicks were on the road when the deal was finalized both players had most of their clothes back in New York, making their personal lives a logistical tangle while they had to try and get up to speed on the Raptors’ on-court systems.
NBA Toronto Raptors Rebuild Darko Rajakovic Young Talent
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