Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajaković stays positive amid first lineup change

WASHINGTON — It is quite possible Darko Rajaković’s greatest strength in coaching the Toronto Raptors is that he wasn’t around to see last year’s team flirt excessively with the .500 mark.

Those who saw that team fail to live up to its expectations, both internal and external, see this one as a weaker imitation of that one, which did not inspire much admiration in the first place. Being unburdened by the past is a beautiful thing.

“For me, this is a very resilient group of people, first and foremost,” the first-year head coach told The Athletic on Tuesday night, 24 hours before the Raptors beat the Washington Wizards 132-102. “This is a group of guys that is trying to find ways how they can compete every night and contribute to winning.”

Reminder: The Raptors came into Wednesday’s game against the Wizards, who have the third-worst record in the league, having lost 10 of 13 games. That stretch included a record of 0-6 against teams that currently have a record better than .500. They had the ninth-worst offence and 10th-worst defence in the league in those games.

“I think offensively, it’s just our willingness to move the ball and pass the ball. That’s been something that we managed to improve,” Rajaković said, explaining his optimism. “And our guys are continuing to do a good job. There are sporadic moments when we are going to take a poor shot instead of passing the ball. But those things are normally happening on every team in the league. And defensively, it’s just learning how our guys can be more efficient and more disruptive defensively and trying to give our guys the best tools to do that.”

This was part of Rajaković’s resume when he was hired. He is relentlessly positive, in a way that often runs counter to his profession. In particular, it is very much different than the cynical interpretation of ex-Raptors coach Nick Nurse’s “Good luck with those guys” parting message to team president Masai Ujiri, as relayed to the public by Ujiri after the coach’s firing. Nurse’s feeling that he had gotten the most that he could have out of the previous roster was the simplest explanation for his opinion that the relationship had run its course when he was asked about it earlier this season.

The closest Rajaković has gotten to open frustration with his 12-18 team was his comment that it was not as if he were leaving Steph Curry on the bench when asked after a brutal loss to Utah why he had yet to change his starting lineup. Even that comment was misconstrued, although it did hint at the fundamental limitations of the roster. The team has one backup point guard with any NBA experience behind Dennis Schröder and no true centres behind Jakob Poeltl, the two most obvious candidates to be pulled from the starting unit.

Rajaković made his first change to the starting lineup not inspired by injuries Wednesday, putting shooter Gary Trent Jr. into the opening group for Schröder. The coach looked briefly at no-point-guard lineups before the brief holiday break, with Scottie Barnes acting as the primary playmaker. The spacing-squeezed prior starters were outscored by 12 points over 364 minutes. The second-most frequently used five-man lineup, with Trent in Barnes’ place, which was generally Rajaković’s first substitution, was outscored by 19 points in 97 minutes.

After the Utah game, Rajaković said he didn’t want to make a “cosmetic change.” Tuesday night, he added that without a vision for how things would flow from the opening five to the bench, making a move was just change for its own sake.

“It is about (helping steady the bench), but it’s also about Scottie getting more of a ballhandler role,” Rajaković said after Wednesday’s win. “That’s a part of his development and growth. Dennis is a big part of what we do, and you could see today he embraced the role. … Just stabilizing those minutes and having more continuity there is something that we’re looking at.”

The change was overdue, but maybe also overblown. Part of Rajaković’s mission is to set a foundation of style and playing time for the team’s most important players. That is where the coach must be complimented for his willingness to walk the line between bending to the strengths of his team and trying to implement a specific offensive ethos that he and the front office believe in.

Since the beginning of the season, the Raptors are playing out of the post a lot more, due to the abilities of Barnes and especially Pascal Siakam. However, the focus continues to be on making quick decisions, whether from that area or the pick-and-roll or from the elbows with cutters. The latter in particular has not looked great — the Raptors are not full of intuitive cutters, and Poeltl and Precious Achiuwa aren’t quite Nikola Jokić — but the team is moving the ball with purpose. The Raptors came into the Washington game second in passes made per game and third in potential assists per game. The Raptors had 43 assists against the Wizards, one off the franchise record they set earlier in the year against Detroit.

In other words, despite the pending free agency of three of the team’s top six players in the rotation, the Raptors are trying to play in a manner that the coach wants. It isn’t consistently yielding results, which makes the continued buy-in notable.

“It speaks to the character of those guys,” Rajaković said. “They’re willing to be coached. They want to do the right thing and they want to stick together and to believe in each other, even when big shots are not falling down — to continue trusting each other, to make the right play, to make the right decision.”

Most fans won’t care about that process, and understandably so. It’s been a tough season and a third for the Raptors, and a road-heavy schedule to start 2024 looms. The bet, though, is that this will benefit the players who are here after the trade deadline, and beyond that.

How many people will that be? That is an open question, one the coach cannot answer. In the meantime, some belief in the process is what you want out of Rajaković.

“Yes, we had a tough stretch,” Rajaković said. “But even during that stretch, there were positive things that were going on and moments that we showed how good we can be. For me it is just a question of not quitting, not giving up on those guys.”

• The easiest way to simplify the changes: It is now easier to keep two from among Schröder, Barnes and Siakam on the floor at all times. Those are the Raptors’ three best playmakers in the half court. To be clear, Barnes is the starting point guard for now, if such labels are necessary.

“We believe in 4,” Trent said, referring to Barnes’ jersey number.

• The starters lost their opening minutes 24-16. There was a sloppy turnover from Barnes and a few forced shots, but defence remained the bigger issue. It got so bad that Rajaković went to a zone with the starters, which the Wizards quickly defanged with an alley-oop to Daniel Gafford. Their second-half minutes were cut short by foul trouble.

• Schröder, who finished with 10 assists in 28 minutes, was the first player off the bench, coming in for Siakam, who had two fouls. The next three players were surprises: Chris Boucher, Otto Porter Jr. and Jalen McDaniels. In general, there has been room for just one of that trio this year. Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn, the two players with the worst individual net ratings in the previous rotation, were squeezed out of the action. Achiuwa got into the game only after Poeltl picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter, and played well.

• Porter had one of the best individual defensive possessions of the year, staying in front of scoring guard Jordan Poole while he worked on his mixtape skills, forcing a pass. After Wizards big man Mike Muscala grabbed an offensive rebound, Porter crashed to block his shot. McDaniels eventually secured a turnover.

• McDaniels also had a nice cut to get a dunk. More of that, please. (Barnes complied below.)

• Maybe Siakam asked for ambidexterity for Christmas. He was dominant in the second half and finished with 22 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.

• Barnes appeared to ask off after slipping early in the fourth quarter. He was favouring his ankle. Before the next timeout, which would allow for the timeout, Barnes stripped Landry Shamet, threw an alley-oop pass to McDaniels, got his own rebound and found Poeltl for a dunk. He, as you might have guessed, stayed in the game. Barnes had 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

• OG Anunoby’s baseline sidestep into a baseline jumper is becoming his signature move. It evokes — yes — Kawhi Leonard.

(Top photo of Gary Trent Jr. looking to pass over the Wizards’ Tyus Jones and Daniel Gafford during the first half Wednesday: Brad Mills / USA Today)