Toronto Raptors head coach Darka Rajakovic may not have one of the greatest players in the league on his roster, even if he believes Scottie Barnes is his Michael Jordan.

The Raptors often find themselves having to face off against some of the league's top players and they have to figure out how to beat teams with those who have unstoppable forces. Rajakovic was candid in an interview with the Kole Point podcast and spoke in Serbian about how to defend some of the league's top players.

“Everyone has a different approach. What I try to do I try to see him the night before and get him to have a few drinks, and then see where that takes us… Just kidding, of course. Nikola is the type of player, he’s in a category of players for whom there simply is no way to stop them,” Rajakovic said on the “Kole Point” podcast h/t The Basketball Network. 

“Luka Doncic is in that category, too. [Victor] Wembanyama is in that category. LeBron James is in that category. There are simply some players you cannot stop.”

How Raptors Move Around Top Players is Key

When facing a player like Jokic or Wembanyama, it takes a team to be able to defend them. Luckily for the Raptors, these top players mostly play in the Western Conference.

“You can make things more difficult for them, you can try to slow them down a little, but at the end of the day, you just have to pray to God that it’s not their day and that they miss some shots they normally make,” Rajakovic added. “But stopping Nikola Jokic and holding him to eight points and four rebounds? That’s not going to happen. Even after a lot of rakija.”

The lone player Rajakovic mentioned in that sentence was LeBron James, who is leaving the Western Conference after eight years with the Los Angeles Lakers to move to the East to play for the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers could emerge as one of Toronto's top rivals this season.

LeBron may not be the same player he once was, but he is still someone worth fearing. LeBron's presence shakes up an entire team's ecosystem and forces other teams to play around it. The 76ers are certainly a threat in Toronto's path towards a title this season, but Rajakovic's plan to wiggle around is exactly why the team signed him to a contract extension.

The Raptors believe in Rajakovic's vision, and they are going to need to execute to the highest ability when those games and series pop up in the upcoming season.

Sign up for our free newsletter, which will bring all Toronto Raptors On SI stories every weekday to your email.