Darko Rajakovic

Cavs’ Thompson Responds After Raptors Criticize ‘Disrespectful’ Late-Game Dunk

February 13th, 2025 at 6:00pm CST by Luke Adams

An otherwise straightforward Cavaliers blowout of the Raptors in Toronto on Wednesday in the teams’ final game before the All-Star break got a little heated in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.

With the Cavaliers up by 21 points and holding the ball with the shot clock off, veteran center Tristan Thompson drove to the basket and threw down a two-handed dunk with just 4.1 seconds left in the game to extend the lead to 23 (Twitter video link). As the Raptors inbounded the ball and ran out the clock, the home fans booed Thompson, who was confronted after the final buzzer by Toronto forward Scottie Barnes and guard Jamal Shead.

Following some brief shoving, players and coaches from both teams converged to separate Thompson and the Raptors as the two sides exchanged words. Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic criticized the Cavs big man after the game for what he viewed as an unnecessary exclamation point on Cleveland’s victory.

“I think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful,” Rajakovic said (Twitter video link via The Toronto Star). “I’m not going to stand for that, for sure. I’m really glad that our guys, our players – Jamal, Scottie, and everybody else – that they stood up for themselves. I love when my team stands up for themselves. That was no class act.”

While Barnes didn’t speak to the media after the game, Shead agreed with his coach, telling reporters that the play was “a little bit disrespectful to the game of basketball, not just us,” per ESPN.

Raptors forward RJ Barrett noted that it’s “kind of an unwritten rule” not to try to run up the score in that situation, and even Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson didn’t exactly come rushing to the defense of his player.

“I’m not sure what he was thinking,” Atkinson said, according to ESPN. “Sometimes, though, you’re playing the game, and you just have a reaction. I know with Tristan, there’s no bad intention there. I think just sometimes you’re playing, and the goal of the game is to score. Unfortunate.”

For his part, Thompson – a Toronto native who has played almost exclusively in garbage time for the 44-10 Cavs this season – took to Twitter on Thursday to respond to Rajakovic’s comments and explain his actions.

“You wanna full court press with under a minute left in the game when you get cracked by 30 this will happen to you,” Thompson wrote. “Lose for draft lottery and be happy buddy boy. Hopefully you and most of your guys see the light at the end of (GM) Bobby (Webster) and (president) Masai (Ujiri‘s) long term plan. Bless up stay warm in MY CITY.”

While it’s possible the brief post-game confrontation will result in a fine or two, it didn’t rise to the level to warrant a suspension for any of the players involved.

Atlantic Notes: Rajakovic, Raptors, Knicks, Sixers

January 8th, 2025 at 4:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors are as healthy as they’ve been all season, but their on-court results haven’t improved as of late. They fell to a banged-up Orlando team last Friday and were blown out by Milwaukee on Monday, with both losses coming at home. They’ve now dropped 13 of their last 14 games and have an 8-28 record on the season, the third-worst mark in the NBA.

Toronto has been below .500 since opening night, but the club was more competitive early in the season even while dealing with injuries to players like Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, Kelly Olynyk, and Bruce Brown. With the Raptors healthier, head coach Darko Rajakovic may begin to face real pressure for the first time if the results don’t start to improve a little, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic.

For his part, Rajakovic said he’s confident his team will put forth a better effort than what it showed on Monday against the Bucks.

“(It’s the) middle of (a) long season. It’s guys coming back from injuries, guys being without rhythm, guys not playing together,” Rajakovic said. “Again, I don’t want any of those to sound like excuses. We’ve got to be much better in all of those areas. But at the same time, we work hard, and I believe that we’re gonna get out of this slump, and I think we’re gonna be able to play much higher level basketball than we showed (Monday).”

It won’t be easy for Toronto to turn things around in the short term. The club will play a back-to-back set on Wednesday and Thursday against the Knicks and Cavaliers before visiting the red-hot Pistons in Detroit on Saturday.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

In a separate story for The Athletic, Koreen evaluates a series of Raptors-related trade suggestions from readers, including hypothetical deals involving Jakob Poeltl, Chris Boucher, and Brown, among others.
With minor health issues forcing a couple of the Knicks‘ top players to miss games within the last week, Stefan Bondy of The New York Post examines the team’s depth issue, noting that head coach Tom Thibodeau has shown little inclination to expand his rotation to nine players. Getting back a healthy Mitchell Robinson would help matters, according to Bondy, who adds that the club will also consider its options on the trade and buyout markets, though cap constraints will limit the front office’s options.
Joel Embiid (left foot sprain), Paul George (left groin tightness), and Kyle Lowry (right hip soreness) will be unavailable for the Sixers on Wednesday when they host the Wizards, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. It’ll be the second consecutive missed game for both Embiid and Lowry.
The absences of Embiid and George will delay the Sixers‘ ability to further work on the duo’s chemistry, Pompey writes in another story for The Inquirer. Head coach Nick Nurse said earlier this week that he doesn’t have enough data on Embiid’s and George’s two-man game yet and wants to prioritize getting them more reps together.

Raptors Notes: Record-Setting Loss, Shead, Rajakovic, Barnes, Brown

December 31st, 2024 at 9:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Raptors closed out their worst calendar year ever with the largest loss in franchise history, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Toronto lost by 54 points on Tuesday afternoon in Boston, wrapping up a week filled with historic misery. Grange notes that the Raptors gave up a team-record 155 points Thursday in Memphis and set a franchise mark for turnovers in a home game by committing 31 in Sunday’s loss to Atlanta.

The latest defeat wraps up a forgettable 12 months for the Raptors, who were in contention for a play-in spot when 2024 began. Their 20-63 mark since January 1 goes into the record books as the most losses the franchise has suffered in a single year.

Although things look bleak for Toronto, which dropped into 14th place in the East at 7-26, Grange tries to find a few positives for the franchise going into 2025. One of them is the play of rookie guard Jamal Shead, who appears to be a steal with the 45th pick in this year’s draft. Shead combines physical defense with an ability to get into the paint and make quick decisions. His three-point shooting has been a pleasant surprise, as he came into today’s game connecting at 46.7% from beyond the arc.

There’s more from Toronto:

Head coach Darko Rajakovic has done an admirable job of keeping the team together despite its current 11-game losing streak, Grange adds in the same piece. He has focused on improving his young talent, and management appears to be patient even though the Raptors haven’t won much since he took over. “It’s a roller-coaster season, and that’s what we’re going to understand,” Rajakovic said before Tuesday’s game. “There’s going to be ups and downs, and also improvement. Progress is never linear … at some point you get tired, you get bumped, you gotta learn how to bounce back. There is a lot of adversity, and we’re feeling that adversity, and it’s good. We’re gonna use that adversity to our advantage, to get information that we need to improve, to focus on the most important things, and to see the growth. That’s what this whole season is about, and to also learn who can rise to challenge and who cannot.”
Rajakovic told reporters that Scottie Barnes has been dealing with numerous physical ailments over the past 10 days, including ankle and knee soreness and tightness in his core (Twitter link from Grange). He added that Barnes is starting to feel better, saying, “I’m expecting him to make strides.”
One bright spot this week was the return of Bruce Brown, who made his season debut on Sunday following offseason knee surgery, Grange states in a separate story. The versatile swingman, who’s considered to be one of Toronto’s most valuable trade pieces, scored 12 points in 19 minutes. “I felt like myself again,” he said.

Raptors Notes: Carton, Barrett, Quickley

December 10th, 2024 at 5:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Injuries apparently played a role in the Raptors decision to waive two-way player D.J. Carton.

With Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley and Bruce Brown dealing with injuries, Toronto wanted to add depth. Carton couldn’t provide that in the short run because he’s expected to miss the next three-to-four weeks with an ankle injury of his own, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.

It’s possible that Carton will be re-signed at some point, Scotto adds.

We have more on the Raptors:

While the team awaits an update on Barnes, who injured his right ankle and foot against the Knicks on Monday, RJ Barrett will have to ramp up his production in Barnes’ absence, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. Barrett wound up with 30 points, eight rebounds and four assists against his former team, and did his best to get the Raptors good looks in crunch time, Koreen notes. However, after this season Barrett could see a much different role if the Raptors get a high lottery pick who commands a high percentage of the offense.
In an extensive interview with Michael Grange of Sportsnet, Barrett says that playing for coach Darko Rajakovic has been a boon for his career. “He’s very, you know, straight to the point, but very encouraging, very encouraging. He believes in me,” Barrett said. “Whenever a coach has that spirit, you want to run through a wall for him.” Barrett still has two years and over $57MM remaining on his contract but that might be considered a relative bargain with the way he’s expanded his game since he was acquired from the Knicks.
Quickley had more imaging done on his injured left elbow that has kept him out since Nov. 10, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. He’s progressing, per the Raptors, but he still hasn’t been cleared to ramp up or practice. There’s still no timeline for his return.

Raptors Notes: Barnes, Brown, Walter, Olynyk, Poeltl, More

November 20th, 2024 at 1:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors star Scottie Barnes, who has been out since October due to an orbital bone fracture, appears to be nearing a return. The All-Star forward has been cleared for contact and was a full participant in practice on Wednesday, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link), who says it sounds like Barnes will be listed as questionable to play vs. Minnesota on Thursday.

Although Barnes’ right eye is still red, he told reporters that he’s no longer feeling pain in the eye like he was in the days after the injury. His plan is to wear protective goggles as a precaution, which he admitted is “going to take some getting used to” (Twitter link via Lewenberg).

Two more injured Raptors players fully participated in practice on Wednesday too, according to Lewenberg (Twitter link), though he says Bruce Brown (knee) and Ja’Kobe Walter (shoulder) will require longer ramp-up periods than Barnes. That’s especially true for Brown, who has been on the shelf since undergoing knee surgery in September.

Kelly Olynyk (back) and Immanuel Quickley (elbow) remain sidelined for Toronto, but Olynyk was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday, Lewenberg adds.

We have more on the Raptors:

While Toronto’s decision to trade a lightly protected 2024 first-round pick in a package for Jakob Poeltl at the 2023 deadline looks like a mistake in retrospect, that’s certainly no fault of the veteran center, who has been playing some of the best basketball of his career as of late, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Poeltl is averaging career highs in points (17.1) and rebounds (11.9) per game this season and has been more of a threat on offense than he showed in his first eight NBA seasons. “I mean, maybe there’s a little bit of a mindset change with me personally, but I think, more than anything, the reason why I feel like I’m getting more opportunities is just within the flow of our offense, our guys are finding me,” he said. “There are situations when I’m catching in rhythm because I’m getting a couple of easy ones.”
Within the same Sportsnet.ca story, Grange notes that Poeltl’s strong play this fall could boost his value as a trade chip, but suggests the Raptors might be better off keeping the big man. As Grange explains, a healthy version of the current roster, perhaps with another prospect added via the 2025 draft lottery, has a chance to be competitive sooner rather than later.
Despite their 3-12 start, the Raptors can’t be too upset about how the first month of the season has played out, as Grange and Lewenberg detail in a pair of stories. The vibes in the locker room are still positive, individual players – including 2023 lottery pick Gradey Dick – are making positive strides, the team has been competitive in most of its losses, and they seem to be buying into the way that head coach Darko Rajakovic wants to play.
While RJ Barrett‘s shooting percentages are down so far this season (.422 FG%, .338 3PT%), the forward’s passing ability has been a pleasant surprise, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic. With primary play-makers Quickley and Barnes battling injuries, Barrett is averaging 6.5 assists, well above his career rate coming into this season (2.9 APG).
Eugene Omoruyi, who appeared in 87 total NBA games for four teams from 2021-24, has signed a G League contract and has been acquired off waivers by the Raptors 905, Toronto’s NBAGL affiliate. As Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca tweets, Omoruyi – who grew up near Toronto – opted to join the G League in the hopes that he could land with his hometown team. The 6’7″ forward has averaged 5.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 12.1 minutes per game with the Mavericks, Thunder, Pistons, and Wizards since going undrafted out of Oregon in 2021.

Raptors Notes: Quickley, Rajakovic, Agbaji

November 12th, 2024 at 5:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Immanuel Quickley has endured an unfortunate string of injuries and another one has cropped up. The Raptors guard has been diagnosed with a partial UCL tear in his left elbow, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet tweets. He’ll be reevaluated in a week.

As Michael Grange of Sportsnet notes (Twitter link), Quickley missed all of training camp and four preseason games with a thumb sprain. He also sat out eight games with a pelvic contusion from a fall in the season opener. The elbow injury comes after he returned for two games. Quickley averaged 75 games a season in the past three seasons.

We have more on the Raptors:

Head coach Darko Rajakovic knows what the organization wants out of him this season, as he told The Athletic’s Eric Koreen in a Q&A session. “This year the focus is very clear. We need to develop young guys. We need to develop our roster,” he said. “The main thing, the most important thing, is being dedicated to the process of the development — individually and as a team. And this year for us, process has to be more important than the outcome of some of those games. That’s not saying that you’re not competing. That’s not saying that we don’t want to win. I think it’s completely opposite. As you can see, we are undermanned, but we are really competing and staying in all of those games against really good teams.”
Rajakovic and his staff deserve credit for the team’s competitiveness in the early going, despite its shortcomings. He has also earned the right to be second-guessed on some of his late-game decisions in the final two minutes of a close game, and Grange details some moves that Rajakovic could have handled differently.
When the team picked up the fourth-year option on Ochai Agbaji‘s contract, there were legitimate reasons to question the move. That’s not the case anymore. Through 11 games this season, he’s averaging 14.0 points while shooting 58.8% from the field and 47.7% on 3-point tries. “Summer league wasn’t the way I wanted it to go. I would say I was a little discouraged after that, but that was kind of just motivation even more for me going back into (team) mini-camps that we had just to kind of go and prove myself again and kind of re-establish that confidence,” Agbaji told Koreen. “Summer league and last year, I’ll always tell people now, those were kind of just the building blocks of me. Obviously you have to have those down days to have up days.” Agbaji is eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer.

Raptors Notes: Trent, Quickley, Porter, Draft Pick, More

April 13th, 2024 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Last June, after Gary Trent Jr. picked up his player option for 2023/24, there were reports suggesting that he and the Raptors were nearing an agreement on a multiyear extension. That deal never come to fruition, so Trent played out the year on an expiring contract and is on track to reach unrestricted free agency this summer.

As Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca writes, it’s unclear whether or not Trent will continue his career in Toronto or head elsewhere once he becomes a free agent. According to Grange, it appears both sides are open to extending the relationship, but they’ll have to agree on a salary and a role, with the latter perhaps representing the more difficult discussion.

“To be honest, it’s really not my choice,” Trent said when asked about potentially staying with the Raptors. “They gotta want me, so I could say I want to come here, but it doesn’t matter if they don’t want me here. So again, at the end of the day, I would love to be anywhere I’m wanted, anywhere I can help contribute towards winning, anywhere that can see me as part of their future or sees me as part of something they got going on that would be great to be a part of.”

No player has appeared in more games (70) for Toronto this season than Trent, who averaged 13.7 points per game with a .393 3PT%. He’s wrapping up a three-year, $52MM deal that paid him approximately $18.6MM in 2023/24, and the Raptors will hold his Bird rights in the offseason, giving them the ability to go over the cap to re-sign him or to sign-and-trade him to a new team.

Here’s more from out of Toronto:

Immanuel Quickley has solidified his place in the Raptors’ future and positioned himself for a nice payday as a restricted free agent this summer, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic, who suggests a salary in the range of $25MM annually seems likely for the 24-year-old.
In addition to being investigated by the NBA, Raptors big man Jontay Porter is also the subject of an inquiry by the Colorado Division of Gaming, who have asked sportsbooks in the state to look into whether they have any accounts connected to Porter and whether those accounts wagered on any “NBA affiliated games.” David Purdum of ESPN has the story.
As a result of Friday’s loss to Miami, the Raptors are locked into sixth place in the draft lottery standings, meaning they’ll have a 45.8% chance of keeping their first-round pick, which will be sent to San Antonio if it’s not in the top six. According to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca, the front office has privately insisted it doesn’t have a strong preference either way — a top-six pick would put Toronto in position to add another building block to its young core, but the 2024 draft class is considered weak, and losing the pick now rather than rolling it over to 2025 would free up all the team’s future first-rounders to trade.
From a lawsuit implicating him in stealing data from a division rival to a betting scandal involving one of his players, Darko Rajakovic has had to deal with an unprecedented amount of chaos in his first season as a head coach. As Lewenberg details for TSN.ca, Rajakovic’s players praised him for the way he has handled that drama and the job he has done amidst a major roster upheaval.
Once known for their strong player development program, the Raptors have had fewer under-the-radar success stories in recent years, but Javon Freeman-Liberty‘s progress as a rookie two-way player this season is a step in the right direction, says Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. Freeman-Liberty received a lightly guaranteed minimum salary for 2024/25 when he was promoted to the 15-man roster last month.

Atlantic Notes: Dowtin, Queta, Melton, Poeltl, Barnes, Rajakovic

April 9th, 2024 at 11:46am CST by Luke Adams

The new deals signed by Jeff Dowtin with the Sixers and Neemias Queta with the Celtics are two-way contracts with second-year team options for 2024/25, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter links).

Both Dowtin and Queta were on two-way deals before promoted to their respective teams’ 15-man rosters, and both players received minimum-salary contracts.

Here are more notes from around the Atlantic:

Sixers guard De’Anthony Melton, who has been sidelined since February 27 due to back issues and has only played five games since the calendar turned to 2024, has been upgraded to questionable for Tuesday’s game vs. Detroit, tweets Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. While Melton’s comeback efforts have flown somewhat under the radar, overshadowed by Joel Embiid‘s recent return, it would be a major boost for the 76ers if they can get the versatile guard back in action before the postseason tips off.
Asked on Sunday about Jakob Poeltl‘s and Scottie Barnes‘ recoveries from hand surgeries, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic told reporters that although neither player has formally been ruled out for the season, he’s not counting on either one returning this week (Twitter links via Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca and Michael Grange of Sportsnet). Both Poeltl and Barnes continue to go through the ramp-up process — even if they’re not back in action in the coming days, the goal is to get them in the best possible shape heading into the offseason.
In a pair of stories for The Athletic, Eric Koreen considers what we can learn from Rajakovic’s first year as the Raptors‘ head coach and hands out his end-of-season awards, including naming Poeltl the most underappreciated Raptor of 2023/24.

Raptors Notes: Siakam, Barnes, Rajakovic, Quickley, Trent

January 11th, 2024 at 10:58pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Raptors forward Pascal Siakam‘s contract is set to expire after the season and, after the trade of OG Anunoby, it looked like he would be the next Toronto forward to be on the move. That may still be the case – the Raptors engaged in Siakam trade talks with the Kings last week – but an extension for the two-time All-Star seems increasingly plausible, according to The Athletic’s Eric Koreen.

Koreen and a few other writers at The Athletic sift through six hypothetical trade packages for Siakam to consider but conclude the uncertainty surrounding his willingness to extend with a team that trades for him could complicate matters. The Pacers, for example, have been heavily tied to Siakam but it’s unlikely Indiana would want to pay a high price, like Jarace Walker, for the former NBA champion without assurances he’d re-sign, John Hollinger writes. On the other hand, any package that doesn’t include Walker and Buddy Hield may not move the needle for Toronto.

Detroit and Brooklyn are two other teams in similar positions to Indiana and all three could outright pursue him in free agency if they desired. According to Koreen, the Mavericks, Warriors and Thunder are three teams able to put together deals that make the most sense. The Mavs could offer a combination of Grant Williams, Josh Green, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Olivier-Maxence Prosper in a potential deal while Luguentz Dort and Davis Bertans could headline a package from the Thunder, The Athletic’s staffers write.

For the Warriors in particular, any such deal is likely contingent on Jonathan Kuminga‘s inclusion. According to Anthony Slater, there’s been trade chatter on a substantial level between the two teams in recent weeks.

We have more from the Raptors:

Coach Darko Rajakovic made headlines this week when he blasted officiating after a loss to the Lakers, but he also turned heads when he called Scottie Barnes a “face of the league.” According to Sportsnet’s Michael Grange, Barnes appreciated the comment and sentiment. “It makes me feel great,” Barnes said. “I think it makes our team feel great as well. Good to have a coach that’s gonna stand behind our back no matter what. He doesn’t care, he’s gonna tell it like it is.“
Immanuel Quickley showcased a deep appreciation for his time in New York in an essay penned for The Players’ Tribune. “These things move so fast, it’s crazy that I’m already on the road with my new family,” Quickley writes. “But it wouldn’t be right to leave without saying a little something just to let y’all know that the love is mutual.” Quickley spent the first three-plus seasons of his career with the Knicks after being drafted by New York with the 25th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. In six games with the Raptors, he’s averaging 19.2 points and 6.2 assists.
Gary Trent Jr. is unbothered by trade rumors surrounding the Raptors, he reveals in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina, and he’s energized by Toronto’s recent acquisition of RJ Barrett and Quickley. “It’s exciting. It’s been fun,” Trent said. “Obviously, we still want to continue to figure it out. That’s everybody – myself, Scottie, Pascal, — we’re all dealing with adding players to our team that can help us and all try to mesh. It’s already been cool. I’ve known RJ and Quickley since we’ve been 15 years old. It’s already transpired as a full-circle moment. It’s crazy to come back and be a part of the same team with them.” I recommend checking out the one-on-one interview in full.

Raptors’ Rajakovic Fined $25K By NBA

January 11th, 2024 at 1:42pm CST by Rory Maher

As expected, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic has been fined $25K by the NBA for blasting the officiating following Tuesday’s one-point loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles, the league announced (via Twitter).

Toronto carried a narrow lead into the fourth quarter, but the Lakers eked out a win after going 19-of-23 from the foul line and scoring 44 points in the final frame. The Raptors were awarded two free throws during the game’s final 12 minutes.

“That’s outrageous. What happened tonight, this is completely B.S.,” Rajakovic said (Twitter video link via Dime). “This is shame. Shame for the referees. Shame for the league to allow this. Twenty-three free throws for them, and we get two free throws in the fourth quarter? Like, how to play the game? I understand respect for All-Stars and all that, but we have star players on our team as well.

“How (is it) possible that Scottie Barnes, who is (an) All-Star-caliber player in this league, he goes every single time to the rim with force and trying to get to the rim without flopping and not trying to get foul calls, he gets two free throws for a whole game? How is that possible? How are you going to explain that to me?

“They had to win tonight? If that’s the case, just let us know, so we don’t show up for the game. Just give them a win. But that was not fair tonight. And this is not happening (for the) first time for us. Scottie Barnes is going to be (an) All-Star. He’s going to be the face of this league, and what’s happening over here during (the) whole season … it’s complete crap.”

Tuesday’s officiating crew was led by Ben Taylor, who was also on the receiving end of a postgame media rant from a member of the Raptors last season, when Fred VanVleet called his performance “f–king terrible” and pointed out that most of his technical fouls were called in games refereed by Taylor. VanVleet was docked $30K for those comments, notes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (via Twitter), so Rajakovic’s fine comes in a little lower than that.

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