TORONTO (AP) — The Toronto Raptors have agreed to a multiyear contract extension with coach Darko Rajakovic, who will soon lead a team featuring Kawhi Leonard.
The Raptors announced the agreement on Thursday, days after making a blockbuster deal to bring Leonard back the franchise he led to the 2019 NBA title.
Rajakovic led Toronto to 46 wins last season, guiding the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2022 before losing in Game 7 of an first-round series against Cleveland. He helped the Raptors bounce back from winning 30 or fewer games the previous two seasons under him. Rajakovic is 101-105 over three seasons with the Raptors.
Rajakovic was hired by the Raptors a little more than three years ago, replacing Nick Nurse after he was fired. He is the second Serbian-born coach in the NBA, following former Phoenix Suns coach Igor Kokosov.
Born and raised in Serbia, Rajakovic has been involved in coaching since his teens. He coached in Spain before coming to the United States.
He was a head coach for two seasons in the G League before becoming an assistant with the Oklahoma City Thunder during 2014-15 season.
Rajakovic spent the 2019-20 season as an assistant with Phoenix and joined the Memphis Grizzlies the following year for a three-season stint before Toronto gave him a chance to lead an NBA team.
He coached the international team at the All-Star Game as part of the NBA’s new U.S. vs. The World format earlier this year
Toronto acquired Leonard in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers, a person with knowledge of the talks told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The Raptors are dealing Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round draft picks, two second-round picks and pick swap to the Clippers for Leonard, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade has not received the required league approval.
Leonard spent one season in Toronto, and that was the year the Raptors won their only championship. The 35-year-old Leonard scored a career-high 27.9 points in 65 games last season. He is a seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, a two-time NBA champion, who also won a title in 2014 with San Antonio, and is an asset on defense.
AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic, left to right, 2026 draft picks Allen Graves and Jaden Bradley, and general manager Bobby Webster pose for a photo in Toronto, on Thursday, June 25, 2026. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic, left to right, 2026 draft picks Allen Graves and Jaden Bradley, and general manager Bobby Webster pose for a photo in Toronto, on Thursday, June 25, 2026. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)
From right to left, Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic sits with Raptors draft picks Allen Graves and Jaden Bradley during the first half of a WNBA basketball game between the Toronto Tempo and the Phoenix Mercury in Toronto, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Joey Logano has three championships in the NASCAR Cup Series but none in the Chase system that has returned this season.
The Team Penske driver is embracing the challenge of proving he can win a title in the format that puts a greater emphasis on banking consistently strong finishes.
“Do I have a little chip on my shoulder? That’s a clear yes,” Logano said with a chuckle after his victory Saturday at Richmond Raceway. “So much so that our team slogan is ‘4 the haters.’ That’s where we’re at. That’s good extra motivation.”
With an impressive surge from 20th to ninth in the standings over the past six races, Logano has flipped the narrative on the elimination playoffs that were in place for 12 years.
From 2014-25, the waning races of NASCAR’s regular season typically were a scramble to make the championship field as a win earned a berth.
But that safety valve has disappeared in the Chase, which will rely entirely on points to set the 16-driver field.
The top 16 in the provisional Chase have been unchanged for the past four races, and the grid for the 10-race title run likely will remain the same at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend.
Shane van Gisbergen holds the 16th and final spot by 50 points over Ryan Preece, who dropped 21 points further below the Chase cutline with a 17th-place finish at Richmond.
The next three drivers ranked outside the Chase — Ross Chastain (12th at Richmond), Brad Keselowski (26th) and Erik Jones (27th) — also lost ground, diluting the potential drama of a surprise qualifier.
“The number of guys that feel the pressure of making the Chase is probably less,” said Christopher Bell, who is among seven drivers who have clinched Chase spots. “In years past, everybody on the outside still had an opportunity to get in, and now it’s kind of dwindled to a couple guys fighting for the spots.”
There’s been more intrigue toward the top half of the standings — particularly the progress of the Team Penske trio.
As Logano continued his push up the points ladder, teammate Ryan Blaney moved past Ty Gibbs into second in the standings at Richmond. Austin Cindric, Penske’s third driver, shored up his title eligibility with a career-best third on a short track to move up a spot to 15th in the points.
Denny Hamlin has a 115-point lead on Blaney and likely will clinch the Chase’s top seed Sunday at New Hampshire, which will be followed by the Aug. 29 regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway.
The standings then will be reset for the Chase, which begins Sept. 6 at Darlington Raceway with the championship leader ahead by 25 points. Second will start 10 points ahead of third, and the remaining 14 spots will be separated by five-point increments.
“Getting to second is top of mind because every point is going to matter,” Blaney said.
There also is an emphasis on finishing the regular season in the top half of the points standings.
Racing Insights, a NASCAR analytics firm, ran more than 25,000 computer simulations of Chase outcomes, and the champion started in the top six 85% of the time.
Logano, who made the Chase only once while racing under the system in his first five Cup seasons from 2009-13, is 36 points from sixth-ranked Chase Elliott.
“We’ve been able to switch our goals from making the Chase to winning the championship,” said Logano, whose No. 22 Ford was ranked 17th before winning two of the past four races. “It’s quite the turnaround. I look at the last month and a half, we’ve been capable of winning all of them.”
Logano could be among several more drivers who lock into the championship Sunday with a solid result at New Hampshire.
Crew chief Paul Wolfe credited Logano with buoying morale when the team notched only two top-five finishes in the first half of the season.
“I’m proud of everyone sticking together,” Logano said. “There are times you see teams break, and it doesn’t take much longer running the way we were until something probably was going to break. We’ve been able to make quite the recovery to have a legit shot at the championship.”
After finishing sixth at Richmond, Kyle Larson immediately flew to Iowa and scored his fourth victory in the Knoxville Nationals, a prestigious sprint car event. Larson qualified on the pole position last week by winning a preliminary race at the renowned dirt track in Knoxville, Iowa.
He had expected to miss Saturday's main event because of the schedule conflict with Richmond, but a rain delay at Knoxville Raceway allowed the two-time Cup Series champion to arrive in time to lead all 50 laps. “It’s extremely surreal just to talk about the day and the range of emotions,” Larson said.
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Team Penske driver Joey Logano (22) celebrates with family in victory lane after winning the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, in Richmond Va. (AP Photo/Robert Simmons)
Team Penske driver Joey Logano (22) celebrates in victory lane after winning the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, in Richmond Va. (AP Photo/Robert Simmons)
