Raptors promote Bobby Webster to GM, others move up

The Raptors, a fine stable organization, announced today that they have promoted Bobby Webster to the position of general manager. He’ll be replacing Jeff Weltman, who left Toronto recently to rebuild the flailing Orlando Magic. In addition, Dan Tolzman will step up as the assistant general manager/vice president of player personnel, while Keith Boyarsky will become vice president of basketball strategy & research. This is all very official.

As per the official press release, team president (who most surely will stay in Toronto) Masai Ujiri had this to say:

“We are excited to promote Bobby, Dan and Keith for their hard work and important contributions to our program,” said Ujiri. “They have been invaluable across many aspects of the franchise, making decisions on our salary management, key input on scouting, analytics, strategy, player personnel and team building that has helped us develop a winning culture throughout our organization.”

This has been quite a run for Webster in Toronto. He joined the team in 2013 as vice president of basketball management & strategy, watched along with us as the Raptors rose up to their franchise peak, and has now been promoted twice since then. Also, his wedding was written about in publications far and wide. Finally, the dude is just 32, which puts a lot of things in perspective (for me, a soon-to-be 33-year-old).

The book on Tolzman involves the last two seasons with the Raptors 905 in the G-League (we’re calling it that now). He’s still going to be that team’s GM, which points to a nice bit of synchronicity within the Raptors organization as a whole. Tolzman is the man behind the Raptors 905’s recent title run, and having him stay on is a small boon for the organization. He’s been with the Raptors since 2013 as well.

Finally, we come to the relative veteran, Boyarsky. He’s been with the Raptors since the 2009-10 season (so he’s seen some heavy shit), and now gets to ride the continued wave of Toronto success right up the organizational ladder. Godspeed to him.

All in all, a good day for the Raptors, as they continue to prove they’ve got a stable, smart, and capable management structure in place, despite whatever else is happening in the league.

As the press release points out: “Masai Ujiri will continue to oversee basketball operations as president of the club.”

And we are at peace.