The Toronto Raptors expect to formally introduce Kevin O'Neill today as the National Basketball Association team's fifth head coach, according to team sources.

O'Neill, 46, was most recently the lead assistant with the Detroit Pistons for two years and is given credit for remaking that team into one of the NBA's best defensive teams. Before that, he was an assistant to Jeff Van Gundy with the New York Knicks and has a solid record of turning around college programs during a decade as a head coach in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He replaces Lenny Wilkens, who was fired at the end of this past season.

O'Neill's hiring has been reported since the weekend, and at one point it was expected to be announced formally on Monday, although a contract couldn't be completed in time.

O'Neill was reportedly in Washington yesterday with Raptors general manager Glen Grunwald during a predraft workout for Georgetown University forward Mike Sweetney.

"I can't comment," Grunwald said.