How former OKC Thunder G League coaches Mark Daigneault, Darko Rajakovic rose to NBA ranks

Mark Daigneault and Darko Rajakovic crossed their arms, stepping almost in sync along the Paycom Center sideline. Both rolled the sleeves of their sweaters, freeing their arms to make intricate signals. Conductors of five-man orchestras.

How one of them reached the NBA head coaching ranks is remarkable. That both of them did is inexplicable, save for one commonality, one shared path down Route 66 as unassuming basketball brainiacs uncovered and hired by Sam Presti as G League coaches.

Rajakovic, from Serbia, was coaching in Spain before Presti tabbed him in 2012 to coach the Tulsa 66ers. Rajakovic became the first G League head coach born outside the U.S.

Daigneault, a low-level assistant under Billy Donovan at Florida, was an even more unconventional hire — a 29-year-old without a robust resume.

Sunday night in Oklahoma City, Daigneault and Rajakovic dueled as opposing coaches in the Thunder’s 135-127 double-overtime win against the Raptors. Both showed their chops as brilliant tacticians in a game filled with crunch-time scenarios.

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Mark Daigneault, Darko Rajakovic grew in OKC Thunder

The Thunder prides itself on player development, but Sunday night was proof of the organization’s ability to identify and develop young coaches. Brian Keefe, another longtime Thunder assistant, is the interim coach of the Wizards. That’s 10% of NBA coaches whose first NBA job was with the Thunder. Former Thunder G League coach Nate Tibbets is head coach of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

“Those jobs are really, really valuable jobs,” Daigneault said. “You have to be incredibly light on your feet. You’re put in a lot of different situations, you can really learn a lot of different things about coaching — not only coaching the game, being in front of a team and all that stuff, but you’re put in tough situations all the time.

“It’s a very unkind environment, in a good way. As you see other guys that have coached G League teams have success, I think that’s part of the reason why.”

Even for the G League, Daigneault admitted that he and Rajakovic could both be considered a “reach” when Presti hired them.

“It was a hire more on potential than on previous body of work for both of us,” Daigneault said. “Obviously, it had a huge impact on our careers.”

Rajakovic said he was “grilled” in his interview process, which must have gone well.

“I owe Sam a lot for taking a chance on me,” Rajakovic said. “At the time I was the first international head coach in the G League. He had a vision of where basketball in general is going. He took the chance on me, and I always had huge support from him and the organization to be myself and to coach the team to the best ability I can.”

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Darko Rajakovic was Thunder assistant to Billy Donovan

Rajakovic spent two years in Tulsa before he was promoted to the Thunder’s staff, where he worked as an assistant for five seasons, first under Scott Brooks and then Billy Donovan.

Asked about his best stories from Tulsa (G League coaches always have the best stories), Rajakovic laughed.

“Not all of the stories are to be told with cameras around,” he said. “It was a really good experience. Even then it was one of the best (G League) programs in the whole league.”

Daigneault succeeded Rajakovic in the G League ranks. Daigneault’s first season coincided with the team’s move from Tulsa to Oklahoma City, where it was rebranded as the Blue.

After coaching the Blue for five seasons, Daigneault spent one season as a Thunder assistant before being promoted to head coach following Billy Donovan’s departure.

Daigneault, now in his fourth season with the Thunder, is the favorite to win NBA Coach of the Year. He finished second for the award last season.

“Mark Daigneault is one of the brightest coaches the NBA has,” Rajakovic said.

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Daigneault and Rajakovic never worked directly together on the Thunder’s staff, but they came to know each other well, especially in the offseasons when the Blue staff and Thunder staff blended.

“He’s a very dear friend of mine and somebody I respect and admire a lot,” Rajakovic said.

Daigneault credited Rajakovic’s “unbelievable motor for work.”

After leaving Oklahoma City in 2019, Rajakovic worked as an assistant in Phoenix and Memphis before the Raptors hired him as head coach last summer.

Rajakovic has been back to Oklahoma City plenty of times as an assistant, but never as a head coach. Until Sunday.

“Feels surreal, to be honest with you,” Rajakovic said. “I still have a lot of friends here in the organization.”

His son, Luka, was born here.

“It always feels like coming back home,” Rajakovic said.

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Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Mark Daigneault, Darko Rajakovic meet in NBA as past G League coaches