After announcing Scottie Barnes as an All-Star participant, the Raptors will now have four members at All-Star Weekend.
NBA All-Star Weekend is just nine days away, and the fourth-seeded Toronto Raptors will be well-represented in Los Angeles in the Intuit Dome. The selections for the Rising Stars Game and All-Star Game were announced weeks apart, but there are officially four members of Toronto’s organization participating in All-Star Weekend.
Starting with the Rising Stars Game, rookie first-round pick Collin Murray-Boyles will be competing for the Rookie Team against G-League standout Alijah Martin and the G-League Team. Second-year guard Jamal Shead was considered a possibility to be selected for the Sophomore Team, but due to his lack of counting stats (and maybe playing time), he will be watching his teammates from home.
Toronto Raptors forward/center Collin Murray-Boyles (12) | © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
As for the All-Star Game, Scottie Barnes was selected for his second-career All-Star appearance. The former No. 4 pick in the 2021 draft earned the honor after inserting himself into contention for the Defensive Player of the Year award, along with leading the Raptors in nearly every statistical category. Meanwhile, another potential snub for Toronto was its leading scorer, Brandon Ingram, who failed to be selected to his second-career All-Star Game.
With the three players all making their marks in the two games, one more selection was added to Team World for the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic has been selected by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to be the head coach for Team World in the All-Star Game. The Serbian native now joins every coach in the top seven of the Eastern Conference standings to coach the All-Star Game, including Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who is making his first appearance this year as well.
Rajakovic is one of just four (five, including Steve Kerr, who was born in Lebanon to American parents) foreign NBA head coaches today. Being that the other three coaches are leading teams that are 10th in their respective conference standings or worse, Toronto’s leader was a no-brainer choice for the commissioner.
The 46-year-old head coach has been through the lowest of the lows with this Raptors team, focusing on player development the past two years and capitalizing on winning now. As one of the most animated coaches around the league, his energy is unmatched and should provide the much-needed intensity that the All-Star Game has been lacking for years.
Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic | © David Butler II-Imagn Images
While he surely won’t win Coach of the Year, assuming Bickerstaff and the Pistons continue their dominant run, he should be a candidate to look for in the future if Barnes, Ingram, and the Raptors can continue to improve year-by-year. After replacing Nick Nurse, who led the Raptors to their first and only NBA Championship, Rajakovic is showing that he can succeed at the helm of an aspiring Toronto team.