A surprising contender has emerged for the Toronto Raptors head coaching vacancy.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that president Masai Ujiri has interviewed Sarunas Jasikevicius for the role.

Currently the head coach of Lithuanian Basketball League side Zalgiris, Jasikevicius played two seasons in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers and Golden State Warriors in the mid-2000s. Among those on the Zalgiris roster is former Gonzaga star and Holland Landing, Ont., native, Kevin Pangos.

After a decade-and-a-half-long playing career as a point guard throughout Europe with stops at Barcelona, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Pananthinaikos and Fenerbahce, Jasikevicius headed into coaching upon his retirement in 2014 as an assistant with Zalgiris before assuming the head coaching role in 2016.

Jaskevicius led Zalgiris to league titles in 2016 and 2017 and to a surprise spot in this past season's EuroLeague Final Four by defeating Greek powerhouse Olympiacos.

Jasikevicius becomes the latest candidate to succeed Dwane Casey, who was fired by the Raptors last month after eight seasons behind the Toronto bench. Along with Jasikevicius, internal candidates in assistants Nick Nurse and Rex Kalimian and Raptors 905 head coach Jerry Stackhouse have been interviewed for the role, as have San Antonio Spurs assistants Ime Udoka and Ettore Messina.

After initial interest from the Raptors, former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer became the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Sources tell TSN's Josh Lewenberg that Nurse is believed to be the front-runner for the job, but external candidates are still being considered. A decision could be made by month's end.