Kawhi Leonard and Darko Rajaković are beginning a new chapter together in Toronto, but their basketball connection actually stretches back 15 years.
During a conversation with Leonard, the Raptors head coach revealed that he was working with the San Antonio Spurs organization in 2011 and was inside the team’s draft room on the night the franchise made one of the most consequential trades in its history.
“I was working with San Antonio. I was coaching in Europe and I was their international scout,” Rajaković told Leonard. “So, the day you got drafted, I was with San Antonio in the draft room. I was part of the trade.”
Rajaković recalled being in a small group alongside members of San Antonio’s decision-making hierarchy, including Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford, as the Spurs made the difficult decision to trade George Hill to the Indiana Pacers for Leonard’s draft rights.
Leonard had been selected 15th overall by Indiana before his rights were sent to San Antonio. Hill, meanwhile, had become one of Popovich’s favorite players, making the decision anything but routine for San Antonio.
Leonard appeared genuinely surprised to learn that his new coach had been in the room that night.
“Wow, that’s crazy,” Leonard responded.
Rajaković simply replied: “Small world.”
Leonard did remember seeing Rajaković around the Spurs organization afterward, albeit only vaguely.
“I remember seeing you around very vaguely,” Leonard said. “Because Pop brings all the coaches over. So, I remember you a little bit, yeah.”
Darko Rajaković tells Kawhi he was scouting for the Spurs in 2011, and his recommendation led to the Spurs trading for him on draft night.
Now, he gets to be Kawhi’s head coach. Surreal. pic.twitter.com/nd3OQSERrl
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) September 16, 2026
Leonard developed from a defense-first prospect out of San Diego State into a Finals MVP and one of the defining two-way players of his generation. He helped San Antonio win the 2014 NBA championship before eventually becoming the centerpiece of Toronto’s 2019 title run.
Now Leonard has returned to Toronto, and Rajaković is the man coaching him.
That gives their reunion a remarkable symmetry. In 2011, Rajaković was one of the people sitting inside San Antonio’s draft room as the Spurs gambled on Leonard. Fifteen years later, the two are together again, except this time Rajaković is no longer a scout watching Leonard’s career begin. He is his head coach.
