Mike Evans is in his first season as an assistant on Sam Mitchell’s staff after working the past four years in a scouting capacity for the Raptors. Evans brings eight seasons of bench experience to his new position, having served as an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets from 1990-94 and 1998-02.

Evans has been as a player, scout, assistant coach, director of player personnel and head coach in his 20-plus years in the NBA. As an assistant, he helped lead the 1993-94 Nuggets team that defeated No. 1 seed Seattle in the first round of the playoffs. He also took over the head coaching duties of the Nuggets for the final 56 games of the 2001-02 season.

A first-round draft pick by Denver in 1978, Evans played nine seasons in the NBA averaging 7.7 points and 2.6 assists. He appeared in 58 playoff contests, averaging 9.1 points and 2.8 assists. He finished his playing career ranked seventh all-time in the NBA in three-point field goals made (231) and fourth in attempts (753).

Evans was traded to Kansas City on draft day but began his playing career with San Antonio in 1979. Following stints with the Spurs, Milwaukee and Cleveland, Evans signed with Denver in 1983. He was a teammate of fellow Raptors assistant coach Alex English with the Nuggets from 1983-88. They led the Nuggets to Midwest Division titles in 1985 and 1988. Evans’ best statistical season came in 1984-85 when he averaged 10.1 points and 2.9 assists in 81 games.

Evans had his number 12 retired at Kansas State University. He is the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,115 points and was named Big Eight Player of the Year as a junior and senior. In his freshman season, Evans was the Big Eight’s Newcomer-of-the-Year. Then he became the school’s third, three-time all-league performer his sophomore, junior and senior campaigns.