Darko Rajakovic spoke to the media at the Toronto Raptors end-of-season press conference.
In his second season as head coach, Rajakovic led the Raptors to a 30-52 season. Despite the poor record, there was a lot of progress made especially by the young players.
With the last two seasons dedicated to player development, there will be expectations next season for this team to win.
The Raptors will be adding a top-7 pick to their roster and Brandon Ingram will officially enter the mix.
The Raptors acquired Ingram at the trade deadline, but he hasn’t played for them yet as he’s still dealing with a nagging ankle injury.
However, Ingram will be ready to go for the start of next season and he will be an important piece.
Rajakovic talked about Ingram and his game, via TSN’s Josh Lewenberg:
“I told Brandon [Ingram] that I don’t want to change him. He’s already an amazing basketball player. I don’t want him to change; he needs to be himself. People are going to talk about, oh, mid-range, that shot, that shot. Brother, if you can make a shot from that position there, go for it. What I’m looking for, more importantly, is we cannot be holding the ball and everybody standing for one player to make a play. It doesn’t matter who that player is. Every decision we’ve gotta make, we’ve gotta make it quickly. I think that’s the way the game is evolving. As a team, we’re doing a really good job of spacing the floor and cutting and moving. Brandon is a very good passer. I think he doesn’t get enough credit for how good of a passer he is and how he can play make for his teammates. So, putting him in that role and seeing how he’s playmaking. One time it’s going to be Scottie [Barnes] in the pick and roll, next time is going to be Brandon, next time it’s going to be [Immanuel] Quickley, and how they create for each other is going to be very, very important to us. And when we do that, everybody eats. When we win, when we share the ball, when we play the right way, everybody eats.”
With Ingram in the mix the Raptors should be competitive next season in the Eastern Conference. Seeing what the Detroit Pistons did this past season, the Raptors can be the next team in the East to take a giant leap.
Scottie Barnes optimistic about future
The Toronto Raptors held an end-of-season media conference on April 14 with the players. Scottie Barnes took the podium and sounded off about how he’s optimistic for the future.
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