TORONTO, ON — Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins will be looking for a new lead assistant on his bench for the 2023-2024 season. Grizzlies assistant Darko Rajakovic is being hired by the Toronto Raptors to be their next head coach, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Rajakovic, a Serbian native, spent the last three seasons as an assistant for the Grizzlies. He's spent time as an assistant for Oklahoma City Thunder and the Phoenix Suns and was head coach of the NBA G-League's Tulsa 66ers.
Rajakovic's hiring fills the last remaining open head coaching position in the NBA. The Toronto Raptors fired former NBA Coach of the Year, Nick Nurse, after finishing the season 41-41 and ninth in the NBA Eastern Conference. The team lost to the Chicago Bulls in the 9-10 game of the NBA Play-In Tournament.
Nurse was later hired to be head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Memphis Grizzlies finished the regular season 51-31 and second in the NBA's Western Conference. They fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in Western Conference Playoffs first round, 4-2.