What are Darko Rajakovic's contract details with Raptors? Salary, duration, & more

The Toronto Raptors announced earlier that Darko Rajakovic will be taking over the head coaching vacancy for the team in the 2023-24 season. Rajakovic will be mentoring a young squad for the Raptors and continuing what Nick Nurse left after he was fired by the team for losing in the Play-In Tournament.

The team hasn't revealed the details on what the details are in Rajakovic's contract. However, some have speculated that it could last for four years and he could be offered an extension by the team.

Rajakovic spent the past nine years as an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Phoenix Suns, and the Memphis Grizzlies. Last year, he was considered one of the top personnel to monitor as a potential coaching candidate. A year later, he was offered a head coaching job to help the struggling Raptors.

ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz broke down what separates Rajakovic from the other coaches.

"People all over the coaching world, as well as players who have benefited from his grasp of the game, rave about Darko Rajakovic. That makes a lot of sense when you consider he has been poached twice -- Phoenix and Memphis -- over the past couple of years by incoming head coaches assembling a staff from scratch." Arnovitz wrote.

You might also be interested in reading this: Who is Toronto Raptors new head coach, Darko Rajakovic? Taking a look at his career

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Darko Rajakovic has coached some of the top talents in the NBA

Following his hiring, many are wondering about the credentials of Darko Rajakovic. It isn't surprising as most fans don't pay too much attention to foreign coaches. After all, he's also not a household name and most fans aren't familiar with his system. However, the stars are aware of how good he is as a coach.

When he first started in the league, he was able to be an assistant for Scott Brooks. At the time, he was coaching the reigning league MVP in Kevin Durant, and an ultra-athletic Russell Westbrook. He stayed with the Thunder until 2019, which means he was able to coach Westbrook when he won the MVP in 2017.

His next stop was with the Phoenix Suns, where he only had one season with the team. Still, Darko Rajakovic was able to coach a rising Devin Booker, who had just started to get the feel of the league.

The Serbian coach joined the Memphis Grizzlies coaching staff back in 2020, where he was the assistant head coach for Taylor Jenkins. Since his start with the team, Rajakovic was able to coach the duo of Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. Both have had an incredible season, statistically, this season.