Masai Ujiri chatted with reporters at Media Day on Monday. You can watch the full interview above, highlights below:
- Masai talked about the importance of bringing the entire team back, and be able to watch them gradually grow. He acknowledges that expectations are higher this season
- One point Masai kept going back to is that the NBA is full of surprises and adversity, and acknowledges that the players, coaches and himself as general manager have to be prepared for that
- Masai acknowledges the team still has a lot of young players and he's always thinking about how to improve the team. He's happy with the team now but will see where they need to add depending on how the team performs at the start of the season
- Another huge theme for Masai is continuity. He believes that consistency is important for winning teams. Says that formula has proven to work in the league and he hopes it works for the Raptors. Stresses that the guys like each other and compete for one another. Also says they're not a selfish team.
- Applauded DeMar DeRozan for his performance at the FIBA World Cup. Masai said DeMar told him the one thing he learned at the tournament was to respect and appreciate what bench players do a lot more, because that was his role for Team USA, and it was an eye opener to see how bench guys prepare and get ready night in and night out
- "You win games in the regular season, but you get better in the summer"
- Was asked to make predictions for the season, but Masai doesn't do predictions