The most significant job opening in Canadian basketball should soon be filled.
Canada Basketball is in the final stages of signing a new head coach for the senior men鈥檚 team, according to sources, as the prelude to the 2027 FIBA World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics begins in earnest in the next few months.
The focus of the negotiations聽鈥 and talks with the candidate are far along the process, a source said 鈥 is unknown but it鈥檚 expected that a Canadian will replace Jordi Fern谩ndez at the helm of the men鈥檚 team he led to a history-making bronze medal at the 2023 World Cup and a quarter-final berth at the 2024 Paris Games.
And given the search parameters set out by Rowan Barrett, the long-time general manager of the senior program, it cannot be a long list.
Speculation since Fern谩ndez stepped away from February has centred primarily on Raptors assistant coach Jama Mahlalela and former German national team head coach Gordie Herbert, who is now coaching Bayern Munich in the top Germany league.
There are others: Utah Jazz assistant Scott Morrison, current Chinese club head coach and former Raptors assistant Nathaniel Mitchell, ex-Raptors 905 assistant coach and current Atlanta Hawks assistant聽Ryan Schmidt and associate head coach Shawn Swords with the Long Island Nets.
All but Schmidt are Canadians聽鈥 the Swaziland-born Mahlalela was raised in Toronto, Herbert is from Penticton, B.C. and is a former Canadian national team player and a 1980 Olympian, Morrison is from P.E.I., and Swords was raised in Ottawa.
The senior men鈥檚 team has been coached by non-Canadians since 2019, first by then-Raptors head coach Nick Nurse and Fern谩ndez, who took over in 2013.
Barrett has said his search was focused on a coach with both NBA and international experience, someone who would be able to do the job through the 2027 World Cup qualification that starts this fall and through the 2028 Los Angeles Games if Canada qualifies.
Herbert would fill all the boxes聽鈥 he spent a season as a Raptors assistant and led Germany to the gold medal at the 2023 World Cup聽鈥 and the only thing Mahlalela lacks is head coaching international experience. He has worked in the NBA with both the Raptors and Golden State Warriors and was the head coach of Toronto鈥檚 G League franchise.
Mahlalela has the fully blessing of the Raptors, who have already told Canada Basketball officials they will give him whatever time off he鈥檇 need.
鈥淗e has that talent: He can bring people together and in order to be a head coach, that鈥檚 what you need to do,鈥 Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic told the Star.
鈥淗is basketball knowledge is outstanding, he had amazing opportunity to work with some great coaches, to work with great organizations, to win two championships (2022 with Golden State, 2018 with Toronto) and every day, every week, every month, he continues to improve.
鈥淚 definitely think he鈥檚 ready for a head coaching career and for everything it brings.鈥
Herbert has, by far, the most impressive international resume of anyone linked to the Canada job.
Aside from club coaching jobs in Finland, Austria, France and Germany over a two-decade span, the 66-year-old Herbert reached the FIBA pinnacle with a gold medal at the 2023 World Cup. After coaching Germany to a quarter-final berth at the 2024 Paris Olympics, he left high-level international coaching to take over Bayern Munich.
Canada鈥檚 qualification trip to both the World Cup and the Olympics begins this summer. The FIBA AmeriCup in Nicaragua in August is the first step in the World Cup qualification and there are two 鈥渨indows鈥 of two-game series scheduled for November and February, 2026 on the horizon.
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