Raptors Meeting With Ujiri Today Regarding Vacant GM Position; Also Considering Pritchard?

Ok so this is interesting.

First across Twitter comes the news from CBS ace basketball reporter Ken Berger,that the Toronto Raptors have asked the Indiana Pacers for permission to talk to their current GM, Kevin Pritchard as part of their search to replace former GM Bryan Colangelo. Pritchard had been one of the current NBA executives that many felt the Raptors would make overtures to as part of their GM search, and indeed, that appears to be the case.

The Pacers apparently won't grant said permission until their season has concluded, so we may have to wait a bit to see how this shakes out.

Or not.

A few moments after Berger's tweet, Yahoo! Sports' ace basketball reporter Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that the Raps are closing in on Denver Nuggets' GM Masai Ujiri. Apparently the Raptors have indeed been granted permission to speak to Ujiri and a meeting will take place in the next 24 hours. Wojnarowski reports that Ujiri is prepared to leave Denver for the opportunity to take over in Toronto, and MLSE will be looking at offering him a salary of nearly $3M a year to do so.

This to me sounds like a situation where Masai is the top option for Toronto, and while not a lock, should be a good bet to be running the show next year. Denver would need to give Ujiri a very substantial raise to remain with the team, and from various media accounts, it doesn't exactly sound like the Nuggets are prepared to go in that direction.

If things fall through, I'm guessing Pritchard is Plan B as Toronto can explore the Masai option being unable to talk to Pritchard until Indiana finishes up in the playoffs anyways.

Based on Berger's report, Oklahoma City Assistant GM Troy Weaver is still on the radar too, and therefore is potentially a Plan C.

Obviously a Masai signing would be a huge coup at face value, and a big PR win as the current Executive of the Year.

However it would also mean some very interesting inter-office dynamics considering Bryan Colangelo, the man Ujiri once reported to in Toronto, is still around.