By Dionysis Aravantinos / info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas coach Sarunas Jasikevicius had an interview with Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri for the team’s vacant head coach position, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Toronto’s executive traveled to Kaunas, Lithuania where he had a meeting with the Lithuanian coach.
After a phenomenal regular season, the Raptors got swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers of LeBron James in the Eastern Conference semifinals and parted ways with head coach Dwane Casey. Since the 11th of May, the Canadian team have been searching for a head coach and on June 5 interviewed the former NBAer for their head coaching post.
As the 42-year old Lithuanian coach had said back in May, he will make the decision about the off-season when the time comes.
Jasikevicius led Zalgiris Kaunas to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four this season and won the third place in Belgrade’s tournament. He was also voted as coach of the year by Eurohoops.
Jasikevicius has had experience in the world’s greatest competition, the NBA, but only as a player. Back in 2005, he signed with the Indiana Pacers and in 2007 he moved to Oakland to play for the Golden State Warriors. He played in total in 138 games in his career in the States.
If he eventually signs with the Toronto Raptors, he would become the second European to have a head coaching job in the NBA, following Igor Kokoskov’s footsteps.
Toronto President Masai Ujiri interviewed Zalgris (Lithuania) coach Sarunas Jasikevicius for the Raptors head coaching job, league sources tell ESPN. Jasikevicius is a young EuroLeague coaching star and former NBA player.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 5, 2018
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