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Five of the key Raptors players spoke on Saturday after the team was eliminated from the post-season by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Coach Dwane Casey also weighed in. But today was the main event: General Manager Masai Ujiri would answer questions and deliver, essentially, his state of the Raptors union address.
Here are some of the things he said, and the takeaway from each.
First up, Masai reflects on the team's two key free agents, DeMar DeRozan and Bismack Biyombo:
Masai on bringing everyone back: "I dont know how possible that is... Some of the things are more difficult than others"
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) May 30, 2016
Is MU prepared to offer DeMar a max deal: "That question is for later."
— Eric Koreen (@ekoreen) May 30, 2016
"Our number one goal is to bring DeMar back here. We feel great that he (wants to be a part) of this organization."
— Eric Koreen (@ekoreen) May 30, 2016
Masai on DeMar and Bismack: "We're proud of those guys and we want to bring them back."
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) May 30, 2016
Nothing too surprising here. It's long be believed the Raptors would re-sign DeRozan to some sort of max or close to max deal. DeMar wants to come back, and while you can question his value versus some other max players, he's definitely a valuable guy to have on your team for 82 games a year.
Biyombo is another question and it still feels like that's anyone's guess. It seems insane though to offer Biz more money than Valanciunas, and if he can get that elsewhere, well, that'll be that.
It's also important to note here that Masai is willing to go in the tax. Of course, this is complicated because of the Raptors' lack of ownership over Biyombo's Bird Rights, but still: encouraging in general.
Masai says ownership will let him be a tax team. Have said from when he got here. He's waited until when it made sense.
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) May 30, 2016
But how about a deal for Dwane Casey? An update:
Masai Ujiri: "Coach Casey is our coach for the future. I think that's very easy for us to figure out."
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) May 30, 2016
Masai Ujiri: "Coach Casey is our coach for the future. I think that's very easy for us to figure out."
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) May 30, 2016
My opinion: This is a good idea. Don't @ me. (Actually, you can @ me and we can fight on Twitter. Let's do it.)
So, moving forward, what kind of things are the Raptors looking to do with, say, their draft picks? And does Masai have any idea as to the team's overall deficiencies?
Masai acknowledges primary areas of need are at PF and back-up SF. Doesn't know if they can add 2 more young players, picks are in play
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) May 30, 2016
Ujiri on if he's open to moving No. 9 pick: "I'm open. I'm open to move at any time if you have any suggestions."
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) May 30, 2016
Masai: "We can attract players here without moaning about anything anymore."
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) May 30, 2016
Again, not a particularly surprising take here. The Raptors were thin at power forward -- having to stretch Patrick Patterson's minutes as far as they'd go, and playing DeMarre Carroll there for stretches. Luis Scola is definitely gone, as are James Johnson and Jason Thompson. So now you're looking at a serious lineup hole there.
Not shocking as well that the team would consider moving its draft picks. They've already got four young guys on the team who may or may not be able to contribute next season. To that end, Masai had some things to say about the Raptors' young players
On Norman Powell:
Masai raves about Norman Powell pic.twitter.com/Bw3kCoCUNq
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) May 30, 2016
On Bruno Caboclo:
Ujiri: "There's no pressure on Bruno."
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) May 30, 2016
Masai on Bruno: "Two years from being two years away ... (laughs)." Says he made great progress.
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) May 30, 2016
And, while he's not one of the four "young" guys on the roster, Masai is big on Jonas Valanciunas:
Is JV ready for a bigger role? Masai-"Yes he is? Even from talking to [Casey] we feel that way, Jonas feels that way, players feel that way"
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) May 30, 2016
MU says everyone thinks JV is ready for a bigger role on team. "Jonas's ankle was still like this (hands very far apart) when he played."
— Eric Koreen (@ekoreen) May 30, 2016
Finally, when asked about where the team is on the whole, Masai was upfront:
"We didn't win the championship. Could we have won the championship? I don't think we're good enough, that we're there yet."
— Eric Koreen (@ekoreen) May 30, 2016
"The East has gotten a lot better. And it's going to get a lot better, even more. We have a tough challenge coming up."
— Eric Koreen (@ekoreen) May 30, 2016
All in all on those last two statements, it's hard to argue with Masai's assessment. The Raptors are not quite a championship-calibre team, but they are headed in the right direction. And of course, there are more East teams now looming as potential threats to the Raptors' position.
And on the fans:
masai to fans: i really have never seen anything like it. i would go to battle any day with our fans, our city, country.
— Holly MacKenzie (@stackmack) May 30, 2016
So, put that feather in your cap, Toronto.
A quick summary:
- The Raptors want to sign DeRozan and presumably Biyombo, but it sounds like the latter one may be difficult to do.
- The Raptors are all-in on Dwane Casey for the near future.
- Masai is open to moving the draft picks at numbers 9 and 27 because he's not sure the team can take on more young players.
- Masai acknowledges a need at power forward and back-up small forward.
- Jonas will have a bigger role, Bruno is growing but still needs time, and Norm has the hunger.
Now let's argue about all of this logic in the comments.
UPDATE: You can now watch the whole thing here.