The Raptors are raiding the WNBA to fill a gap in their coaching ranks.
James Wade, who until Friday was the head coach of the Chicago Sky, will join the Raptors staff as an assistant to new head coach Darko Rajakovic, the WNBA team announced.
Wade, a 47-year-old native of Memphis, has coached the Sky for four-plus seasons and led the team to the 2021 WNBA championship. He has long been linked to NBA openings and sought advice from a handful of NBA head coaches while working for the Sky, but always professed his love for Chicago and the WNBA.
He worked as an assistant with the WNBA’s San Antonio Silver Stars from 2012-16 and moved to the Minnesota Lynx in 2017, when the Lynx won the championship. He was named head coach in Chicago in 2018.
The Raptors haven’t announced anything officially about the coaches, but Jama Mahlalela, Pat Delany and Ivo Simovic are on the staff. They plan to add development specialists Vin Bhavnani and Mike Batiste, according to multiple team and league sources.
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