The Toronto Raptors announced Tuesday new additions to the team’s coaching staff. Joining Head Coach Darko Rajaković on the front of the bench are Pat Delany, Jama Mahlalela (Jah-MAH MAH-la-lay-lah) and James Wade. Assistant coach Jim Sann returns for his eighth season with the team, while Mike Batiste, Vin Bhavnani (BAV-naan-ee), Drew Jones and Ivo Simović (EE-voh SIM-oh-vitch) join the franchise for their first.
“This coaching staff reflects the team we want to see on the court – high character, high energy, and high creativity,” Rajaković said. “We’ve already begun the work we know needs to be done as we head into our first season in Toronto together. We’re excited by the talent, by our team’s potential, and by the job ahead.”
Delany joins the Raptors after two seasons (2021-23) as an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards. Delany has also served as an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic (2018-21) and Charlotte Hornets (2014-18). He spent 12 seasons in the Miami Heat organization, as head coach of Miami’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce for one season (2013-14) where he guided the Skyforce to a 31-19 record (.620) - the second-best mark in the league. Prior to Sioux Falls, Delany was an advance scout for six seasons (2007-13), spent four years as a video coordinator (2003-07) and started with Miami as a video intern in 2002. He will coach the Raptors’ entry at NBA 2K24 Summer League 2023.
Mahlalela returns to the Raptors after two seasons as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors, where he helped capture the 2022 NBA Championship. He was an assistant coach with the Raptors during the 2020-21 campaign after two seasons (2018-20) as head coach of Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate. Prior to his time in the G League, Mahlalela spent five seasons as an assistant coach with the Raptors, and two seasons working in the front office as director of player development. A native of Mbabane, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Mahlalela started with the Raptors on the community development staff in 2006. Mahlalela grew up in the Greater Toronto Area and played collegiately at the University of British Columbia.
Wade comes to the Raptors from the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, where he spent five years as the team’s general manager and head coach. In 2021, he led the Sky to the franchise’s first WNBA championship, following four straight years of postseason appearances. Named the 2019 WNBA Coach of the Year and 2022 Executive of the Year, Wade joined the Sky after two seasons as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx (2017-18), where team took the 2017 WNBA Championship. Wade also spent four seasons with the San Antonio Stars (2013-16), and after college (Middle Tennessee State, Chattanooga State, and Kennesaw State University) he spent nearly 13 years playing professionally across Europe.
Batiste joins the Raptors after a season as an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets. The previous year, he was the Washington Wizards’ manager of player development, after seasons spent as a player development assistant with the Brooklyn Nets (2016-17) and an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets (2017-18) and Orlando Magic (2018-21). After a college career where he was a first-team All-Pac-10 player (1999) at Arizona State, Batiste spent nearly a decade (2003-12) playing overseas for Panathinaikos Athens. Those squads won eight consecutive league championships as well as three EuroLeague championships. Batiste was the Greek league’s MVP and Finals MVP in 2010.
Bhavnani spent a dozen seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, including four as an assistant coach. Prior to taking a place on the Thunder’s bench, he was manager of advance scouting/player development for five seasons, after initially joining the organization as video coordinator. Bhavnani began his career with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2004, interning in the video department, before moving to the San Antonio Spurs as assistant video coordinator. For the past three years, he has run RISE Skill Development, a basketball academy in Oklahoma City. He is a native of Los Angeles, and graduated from the University of Southern California in 2003.
Jones joins the Raptors from the Detroit Pistons, where he spent two years as an assistant coach. Prior to that, he was part of the Philadelphia 76ers staff for two seasons (2019-21), focused on player development. He began his professional career with the Thunder, spending nearly five years with the organization and working as a video analyst, player development coach and as an assistant coach with their G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue. Jones played college basketball at Penn State (2006-11), and before receiving a Master of Education from the university in 2015, he played professionally in Slovakia, Greece and Ukraine.
Sann has been an assistant coach with the Raptors since the 2016-17 season, after stints with the Houston Rockets (2004-05), New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets (2005-10, 2013-16) and Chicago Bulls (2010-12). He first joined the Raptors as an assistant coach during the 2003-04 season, and began his career with the New York Knicks, where he held various positions over his 11 seasons with the team. Sann graduated from the University of Colorado.
Simović comes to the Raptors from the University of California-Los Angeles, where he was an assistant coach last season. He joined the Bruins’ staff after spending the previous four years as an assistant at Loyola University Maryland. He also had stops at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of Hartford, where he was the program’s associate head coach (2016-17). Internationally, Simović spent eight years with Spanish club CB Espacio Torrelodones, serving in various roles, including head coach and sports director. He has scouted internationally for the San Antonio Spurs, where he was also part of the team’s 2013 and 2014 NBA Summer League coaching staff. Simović spent the first seven years of his professional career with Red Star in Belgrade, Serbia.
The Raptors have also hired Noah Lewis and Rashaun Broadus as assistant video coordinators/player development coaches. Lewis spent last season as an assistant coach with Raptors 905, and joined the organization in 2021 as a Wayne and Theresa Embry Fellow. He graduated from Mount Royal University and has a Master of Sport Science from Loughborough University London in the United Kingdom. Broadus comes to the Raptors from the Memphis Grizzlies and Hustle, where he was a video coordinator and assistant coach. He has played professionally overseas, and in the International Basketball League and National Basketball League of Canada.