Don’t appreciate Masai to Knicks rumours | Nurse doesn’t give af | Trade deadline tomorrow | Blake Murphy ranked all the Raptors trades and it gave me PTSD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j86LE8rLao
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBa8MNUNyN4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXj-_SWogps
Dolan has already had converations with one possible candidate, sources tell ESPN. The process for a successor is likely moving faster than the time needed to wait on an Ujiri courtship. https://t.co/9oFeARMvFY
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 4, 2020
"Masai has told people in the past that he's attracted by the lure of that Knick job" – @IanBegley pic.twitter.com/wXwSO9lFZL
— SNY (@SNYtv) February 4, 2020
.@JimmyButler is his favourite player so @Klow7 hooked it up. #ThisIsWhyWePlay | #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/MA3QYV7r4e
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) February 3, 2020
Knicks report a sign Ujiri’s time with Raptors could be winding down – Sportsnet.ca
I reported that Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment — the conglomerate that owns the Raptors along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, TFC and other holdings — had never offered Ujiri an extension (later confirmed by MLSE minority owner Larry Tanenbaum to Sun Media) and that he was all but certain not to accept one if it were offered before 2021 when his contract is up. The expectation was that Ujiri — who had started off as an unpaid international scout barely 20 years ago — was going test free agency.
Another key detail?
That Ujiri may have an out on the five-year deal he signed in the summer of 2016 — which back then was in part a preemptive strike against the Knicks nosing around — that could allow him to hit the market this coming summer. Whether it’s a formal out or more of a gentleman’s agreement isn’t exactly clear.
But it’s not good business for an NBA team to have an executive of Ujiri’s stature going into the final year of his deal without some assurance about the future beyond that. Forcing him to stay the length of the deal if he’s determined to leave seems pointless.
One way or another, the expectation is Ujiri’s status will be cleared up well before the 2020-21 season.
As one league source put it to me recently: “If something is going to happen with Masai and the Knicks it will happen quick, probably a few days after (this) season is over.”
Taken together, a picture seems clear.
The Raptors haven’t offered Ujiri an extension, he’s determined to become a free agent and he may have an out on his deal this coming summer.
Short answer? Ujiri is gone.
The Raptors are the best-run organization in basketball, and the problem with that is that other teams want to hire the people who run it. It’s about the best problem MLSE could ask for.
But this is what happens. According to sources familiar with the organization who were not publicly authorized to discuss the matter, MLSE did not offer Ujiri a contract extension over the summer. This was a departure: Ujiri signed a five-year deal when he came to Toronto in 2013, and the organization ripped it up and signed him to a new five-year deal three years later, after the Raptors reached the Eastern Conference final.
They didn’t this time, for whatever reason. The night the Raptors won the NBA title last June, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Washington Wizards were prepared to offer Ujiri $10 million per year and a path to a piece of ownership to run the bedraggled franchise. That was never a serious consideration, per sources; there was never any indication that Ujiri was interested.
Still, in the locker room in Oakland the night Toronto won, ownership partner Larry Tanenbaum was asked whether a new contract for Ujiri had to be considered, and Tanenbaum said, “I know Masai. He’s like my son. There’s no chance he’s leaving Toronto … I think if you ask Masai he’s got everything he wants.”
And now the Knicks are sending signals of intent. Why wouldn’t Ujiri wait until he hits free agency? Why not find out what’s possible for a fearless executive who dreams big? When you luck into someone like that, you should make sure the door to leaving is never open, even a crack. When you have a star free agent who could hit free agency, this is what happens.
Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri: How concerned should we be about the Knicks? – Raptors HQ
How Concerned Should we be about Masai Ujiri Leaving?
With all of these questions swirling around, I now unveil my official Masai Ujiri Concern-o-Meter!The Concern-o-Meter currently stands at a 3.0 out of 10 (where 1 is the least concerned, and 10 is highly concerned).
(If this story persists for a few days, then I’ll draw up a fancy graphic and everything!)
Current Concern-o-Meter Rating: 3.0
Here’s why it’s at 3.0:
- The timing of the Knicks announcement and the speed of those Woj and Stein tweets caused actual doubt for the first time ever
- The tweets that soon followed, about the Knicks hiring an agent a la the Lakers, eased my fears
- I still just can’t really see Masai leaving a great situation for a terrible one…
… especially if the Knicks had to give up assets to get him there, making his job that much harder.
A couple of days after that latest one, and one day after Sportsnet’s Michael Grange wrote that Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment may have missed its best opportunity to keep Ujiri last summer, chairman Larry Tanenbaum told Postmedia’s Michael Traikos that “Masai is here to stay.” Tanenbaum dismissed concerns about ownership not offering him a contract extension following the Raptors’ first title in franchise history.
In some ways, nothing changed on Tuesday. It was already widely assumed that Mills would not be in charge beyond this season and that the Knicks would pursue Ujiri, whose contract expires in 2021. Timing remains the tricky part of this.
If Dolan is able to poach Ujiri from the defending champions, he will have to compensate them with draft picks. According to ESPN, he is reluctant to do that. And even if New York were able to pry Ujiri away before he is a free agent, it is unclear how much of his staff he would be able to bring with him, as the other members of the front office will also be under contract in Toronto.
The Knicks are at least trying to signal that they have other options and won’t necessarily wait for Ujiri. Wojnarowski reported that Dolan has already talked to a potential candidate. Wojnarowski and ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported that he is considering hiring an agent to lead the front office. SNY’s Ian Begley reported that agent Austin Brown of CAA is being considered.
Feature: How Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse’s personality leads to All-Star success – Raptors HQ
Nurse’s personality is rare among NBA coaches. It’s not often we get a glimpse into who they are outside of coaching, and even rarer to see them let loose as Nurse did on that June evening. But Nurse is one-of-a-kind in so many facets. He did not follow a formula to get himself to his position, he does not follow one when he is coaching, and he certainly did not follow one when he chose to join a Canadian alt-rock band in concert for a Stevie Wonder cover. It is that combination of outside-the-box thinking and his charismatic, no-holds-barred personality that make Nurse a unique, and, more importantly, successful head coach.
When Nurse was first chosen to be the head coach of the Raptors, he was greeted with little more than a shrug and an “I guess we’ll see” mentality by fans of the team. We knew some things from his time as an assistant — that he was the architect behind the offensive revolution that the Raptors underwent in the 2017-2018 season, and that he worked closely with Jonas Valanciunas to modernize his game. There was also the general feeling that he was the third choice.
Along with Nurse, the Raptors brass interviewed former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer, who would go on to take the Milwaukee Bucks vacancy, and Jerry Stackhouse, a popular former player who was the head coach of the Raptors 905 the year prior. Both had more name recognition then Nurse. It was unclear whether Nurse was more or less a default choice after Bud took the Milwaukee job.
That said, Nurse had a story, now familiar with Raptors fans, that made him easy to root for. After a few years coaching in college, Nurse spent over a decade in Europe, largely in the British Basketball League. In 2007, he fittingly took a D-league head coaching job in Iowa, where he was born and raised. Six years later, Nurse got his first NBA job, as an assistant on Dwane Casey’s staff in Toronto, staying with the team in that role up until his hiring as head coach.
6. Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Kings for Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, Chuck Hayes and John Salmons
It’s not so much the specifics players in and players out here as it was what this trade signaled and what it began. The Raptors only gained 4.6 win shares here, a modest total at this point in the rankings even allowing for the shortcomings of such a measure. Gay remained pretty good, Acy got even better and only Patterson lasted more than two seasons in Toronto. This helped unlock something, though, freeing the team from expectations, helping them turn what seemed like a lost season around and, really, starting all of, well… all of this.
Not only was Patterson a productive piece for years, Ujiri was able to later cash in Salmons for two better pieces and cash in Vasquez in an absolute robbery. This trade alone may not have given the team a dramatic boost in talent, but it was the beginning of Ujiri’s kaizen approach to nudging the Raptors a little higher and a little higher, eventually landing them in a position to strike big.
Raptors’ Powell too good to use for salary matching in deadline deal – Sportsnet.ca
Powell – even though he’s out for the next few weeks after fracturing the ring finger on his left hand Friday night – is playing at a level that the Raptors would be hard-pressed to improve on via the trade market.
His start to the season was a little bit uneven, but since he got his first crack at starting after Kyle Lowry fractured his thumb in early November, beginning a string of Raptors injuries, Powell has played at an extraordinary level offensively.
Over his past 31 games, Powell has been averaging 17.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 42.3 per cent from three on more than five attempts a game and 50 per cent from the floor (rounded up from 49.8, but still). His True Shooting Percentage is 63.9.
The only other player in the league scoring at least 17 points a game while shooting at least 40 per cent from three and 50 per cent from the field with a True Shooting Percentage over 63 is Milwaukee Bucks all-star Khris Middleton.
Would the New Orleans Pelicans consider trading either of their veteran wings – Jrue Holiday or JJ Reddick – as they try to build for a future centred around 19-year-old Zion Williamson and 22-year-old Brandon Ingram?
They might, but in each case, Powell’s salary, his age (just about to turn 27) and the level of his play would likely be part of the formula that makes a deal possible and palatable.
Mitchell explains why Raptors don’t need to make a ‘big’ move before Thursday – Video – TSN
Many are expecting the Raptors to stand pat heading into the NBA trade deadline on Thursday, but do they have enough depth to make another run at a second straight championship? Sam Mitchell believes so and joins SportsCentre to explain why.
How the Raptors are impressing this season – Video – TSN
Jackie MacMullan and Scottie Pippen agree the Raptors are having an impressive season and shouldn’t be overlooked despite the loss of Kawhi Leonard.
Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images
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