Above all, the Raptors coaching search required patience. The organization let Nick Nurse go in April, back when Nikola Jokic only had one triple-double in these playoffs, and then came the trek. Candidates came and went, from the familiar — former assistants Adrian Griffin and Sergio Scariolo — to names like Becky Hammon, Steve Nash and J.J. Redick. Masai Ujiri had said the Raptors would get a coach before the draft. They didn’t say how close they’d come.
And now they will introduce Darko Rajakovic, a 44-year-old from the basketball-proud nation of Serbia, whose path through this global game has landed him here.