Raptors name staff for new head coach Rajakovic

The Toronto Raptors named eight assistants to new head coach Darko Rajakovic’s staff on Tuesday (4).

Pat Delany, Jama Mahlalela, James Wade and assistant coach Jim Sann will be on Toronto’s front bench.

Mike Batiste, Vin Bhavnani, Drew Jones and Ivo Simovic will be on the backbench.

“This coaching staff reflects the team we want to see on the court — high character, high energy, and high creativity,” said Rajakovic. “We’ve already begun the work we know needs to be done as we head into our first season in Toronto together.

“We’re excited by the talent, by our team’s potential, and by the job ahead.”

Rajakovic was named Toronto’s head coach on June 13, the 10th in the team’s history.

Sann is returning for his eighth season with the Raptors. Mahlalela returns to Toronto after two seasons as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors, where he helped capture the 2022 NBA Championship. He was an assistant coach with the Raptors during the 2020-21 campaign after two seasons (2018-20) as head coach of Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate.

Delany comes to Toronto after two seasons (2021-23) as an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards. Delany has also

Raptors sign Dick to rookie scale contract

Gradey Dick is officially a member of the Toronto Raptors.

The swingman signed a rookie scale contract 11 days after the Raptors selected him 13th overall in the NBA draft. Dick is under contract through the 2024-25 season, with two team option years to follow.

Toronto also signed guard Markquis Nowell to a two-way contract. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Dick averaged 14.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 steals as a freshman at Kansas last season.

He shot .442 from the field, including .403 from three-point range, and set the Jayhawks freshman record for three-point field goals made with 83.

Dick was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team and Big 12 All-Freshman Team.

The five-foot-eight, 160-pound Nowell had a tournament-leading 54 assists as he led Kansas State to the Elite Eight of the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball championship.

That total was the most since 1989, and the third-most in tournament history.

Nowell averaged 17.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 2.6 steals and 36.9 minutes in 36 games (all starts) with the Wildcats last season, his fifth in the NCAA.

He won the 2023 Bob Cousy Award as the top point guard in Division I men’s basketball.

TSN/MS served as an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic (2018-21) and Charlotte Hornets (2014-18).

Wade joins the Raptors from the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, where he spent five years as the team’s general manager and head coach. In 2021, he led the Sky to the franchise’s first WNBA championship, following four straight years of post-season appearances

Batiste moves to Toronto after a season as an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets. Bhavnani spent a dozen seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, including four as an assistant coach, where he worked alongside Rajakovic.

Jones joins the Raptors from the Detroit Pistons, where he spent two years as an assistant coach. Before that, he was part of the Philadelphia 76ers staff for two seasons (2019-21), focused on player development. Simovoic comes to Toronto from the University of California-Los Angeles, where he was an assistant coach last season.

The Raptors also hired Noah Lewis and Rashaun Broadus as assistant video coordinators/player development coaches. Lewis spent last season as an assistant coach with Raptors 905. Broadus comes to the Raptors from the Memphis Grizzlies and Hustle, where he was a video coordinator and assistant coach. TSN/MS

Raptors hire former Sky head coach Wade as assistant coach

Wade’s resignation with the Sky is effective immediately and Emre Vatansever will take over both roles on an interim basis. All other Sky team staff members will remain in their current roles.

“We are thrilled that James can fulfill a lifelong dream to join the NBA, and we send him our warmest congratulations and best wishes,” Sky principal owner Michael Alter said. “We thank James for establishing a winning, team-oriented culture in Chicago and leading the Sky to our first ever WNBA Championship in 2021.”

Wade joins new Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic who was officially hired on June 13.

TSN/MS