Swing and a miss for Masai Ujiri in his pursuit of filling Dwane Casey’s assistant staff.
Spanish senior men’s national team head coach Sergio Scariolo has turned down the Raptors overtures, reports European Woj-equivalent David Pick.
Toronto Raptors have offered Euro veteran Sergio Scariolo an assistant coach role, but he declined, I'm told.
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) June 15, 2015
Scariolo joins Monty Williams (Thunder) and Dan Erman (Pelicans) in the growing line of candidates who have declined Toronto’s offer to join the assistant staff. The Raptors have two vacancies to fill after dismissing assistants Bill Bayno and Tom Sterner in mid-May. Scariolo has been rumored to be pursued by an NBA team dating back to as early as May 7, 2015. Presumably, that team was the Raptors.
Based off his Wikipedia page, Scariolo is a well-decorated head coach in the international circuit. Success has followed him through stops in the Spainish, Russian and Italian leagues. He was named Italian Coach of the Year as early as 1994 and has two Spanish League champions to his name.
Scariolo is currently serving the second of two stints with the Spanish senior men’s national team. He guided the Golden Generation of Spanish basketball to two EuroBasket golds in (2009 and 2011) and a silver in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The Raptors’ vacancy should hold some appeal in the coaching market. Scariolo was likely pursued to fill the lead assistant vacancy left by Bayno. Given that Dwane Casey is entering the last guaranteed season of his 3-year extension, the possibility to backdoor an interim head coaching gig should entice candidates.
Back to the drawing board.
