https://www.instagram.com/p/CK2UUyqn4Mk/
Raptors Mailbag: Early trade talk, Giannis back-ups, Flynn – The Athletic
Multiple questions about the contract status and futures of Bobby Webster and Masai Ujiri. – Spenser, Mark, Iain
Good news! On Thursday, after you’d sent this question, the Raptors announced they’d signed general manager Webster to a multi-year extension. With Webster and Nick Nurse now locked in for the foreseeable future, Ujiri has either taken care of his key lieutenants to focus now on his own deal, or he’s done so to leave a solid succession plan is in place.
I’d expect conversations about a Ujiri extension to pick up again soon. While there are always franchises circling around a quality expiring executive, it’s not all that unusual for someone in Ujiri’s position to remain unsigned. That won’t make Raptors fans feel any better, but the Webster extension should. The franchise is in good hands, whatever happens with Ujiri, and terrific hands if he stays.
As for the Giannis Antetokounmpo pursuit that won’t happen, I think you can look at that two ways. On one hand, it would make staying a slightly less enviable option for Ujiri. On the other hand, that reality might be greater impetus for a short-term extension to make sure the transition is in a good place.
Webster extension brings sense of comfort to Raptors’ front-office future – Sportsnet
The question, inevitably, is what role Webster will have for the remainder of his contract – the length of which was unspecified.
Does his signing indicate that Ujiri – whose own contract is up after this season – has made sure all of his key lieutenants are taken care of before he reaches a new deal that will keep him in Toronto for the long haul?
Or has the process of signing a still-young core, extending head coach Nick Nurse, taking care of the rest of the basketball operations and now Webster been about Ujiri doing some succession planning and making sure that the organization that has helped him reach great heights will remain in good hands when he leaves?
It’s unknowable for the moment. In December I reported that there had been no meaningful conversations between Ujiri and Raptors ownership at that point, even though Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment — owners of the NBA team as well as the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto FC and Scotiabank Arena, among other holdings — was ready to get a deal done whenever Ujiri wanted to talk.
“I can promise you, it’s not [MLSE],” said a source with knowledge of the ownership’s thinking. “They’d have to be nuts not to [want to sign him]. It’s not like there’s a Plan A and a Plan B. There’s only Plan A, and it’s him.
“But he’s a very deliberate guy, and the kind of guy you have to respect his space.”
My understanding is that nothing has changed on that front and the ball is very much in Ujiri’s court when it comes to reaching a new deal with MLSE.
At the very least, Webster’s signing – which has been all but done since before training camp opened – offers some measure of comfort in the event that Ujiri does move on after this season.
With Webster’s deal not completed it would have been easy to get concerned that Ujiri was planning to airlift his hand-picked executive team to whatever new opportunity came along.
That’s not on the table now. If Ujiri does find another opportunity he’ll be going alone and having to build an organization to match the one he’s be leaving behind, which is easier said than done, given the Raptors are fighting to make their eighth straight playoff appearance and have won 50 or more games for five years and counting, not to mention their title in 2019.
If Ujiri’s next move does involve him leaving Toronto, he won’t have Webster to help move the chess pieces.
Bobby Webster’s extension begs the question, is Masai Ujiri next? – TSN.ca
With the coach and GM locked up long term – as well as three franchise cornerstones in , and – the attention rightly shifts to the architect of the club, and arguably its most important member.
The ball is in Ujiri’s court, so to speak, and it has been for some time. The Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment ownership group will have a pen waiting on the boardroom table whenever he’s ready and willing to sign on the dotted line. But even now, with the team settling into its temporary home and his staff secure in their roles, it’s still unclear what tops Ujiri’s list of priorities. Only the man himself knows for sure.
“I don’t know what the timeframe will be,” Ujiri said back in December. “I go into this thing with a very positive mind and attitude, and we hope it goes that way.”
Whether Ujiri has been ensuring that all the pieces are in place and his people are rewarded before making his own commitment, or whether he’s laying down a succession plan on his way out remains to be seen.
While it’s natural to wonder what Webster’s extension means for Ujiri, if anything, that shouldn’t take away from the importance of retaining a talented young executive. That’s a win for the Raptors, in and of itself.
Now 36, Webster has a bright future ahead of him, and at some point that future will be in the lead chair. He isn’t Ujiri, but he doesn’t have to be. He’s more reserved by nature, which is why he’s comfortable going about his business outside of the spotlight, and it’s why he and Ujiri have complemented each other so well for so long.
He’s been a crucial part of the front office team that has overseen the most successful era in Raptors history, same as assistant general manager Dan Tolzman, who also doesn’t get enough credit, and several others. They’ve all had a hand in just about everything the franchise has accomplished over the past seven years, and other teams have taken notice.
These days, Ujiri’s isn’t the only name that comes up when another club has an opening. One of the league’s most coveted execs, Webster had been linked to the Chicago Bulls’ job last season before they hired Denver’s Arturas Karnisovas to run basketball operations. You can bet that other teams have come calling, as well.
The hope, for Raptors fans and the organization alike, is that the tandem of Ujiri and Webster will continue to lead the organization into its next era. Regardless of what Ujiri does next, though, securing Webster ensures that they’ll be in good and capable hands for years to come.
Toronto Raptors re-sign Bobby Webster to multi-year contract as general manager – Raptors HQ
Some context: Webster is still somehow just 36 years old despite being named as the Raptors’ GM back in June 2017. Before that, he worked his way up in Toronto as vice president of basketball management and strategy and assistant general manager. We know what he’s accomplished since then. Webster has served as Ujiri’s righthand man, helping to shape one of the more successful teams in the league over the past half-decade — culminating in Toronto’s historic championship win of 2019. If nothing else ever happens in his career, Webster can hang his hat on that accomplishment alone as a job well done.
Toronto can now breathe something of a sigh of relief. Heading into this 2020-21 season, there were still huge question marks as to the Raptors’ management structure for the following year. Both Webster and Masai were entering the last year of their contracts and it was fair to ask how or if the team would have to pivot should both decide to depart. Masai did casually mention before the start of the season that Webster’s extension was done, yet we still had to wait for official confirmation.
And while we still don’t quite have any clarity on what Ujiri will do, it’s clear Webster has been training to eventually take a seat in the big chair as team president should Masai decide to move on. At the very least, the Raptors are now in position to maintain some continuity in their management structure regardless of what Ujiri does.
Though, uh, if Masai were to announce that he too was re-signing with the Raptors on another multi-year contract, we certainly wouldn’t be mad about it.
If it doesn’t work out — if Ujiri is presented with a challenge to his leadership skills that he can’t pass up, a distinct possibility given his age, basketball success and awareness of societal issues that goes far beyond sports — he has done what any good president should do. He has taken care of the people who made him what he is, rewarded them for their own excellence and put in place a long-term succession plan that can withstand his departure.
No one is saying he’s going, and there are no tea leaves to be read. If the recent history of this franchise doesn’t prove that it takes its time before making giant moves, nothing will. But regardless, the pieces Ujiri wants in place, the pieces he put in place, are in place.
And Webster is the linchpin.
Ujiri is the public face, the spokesperson, the personality who drives the Raptors and, to a large degree, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment on issues that go far beyond basketball. But the basketball team is not an autocracy.
Ujiri does not make any decision in a vacuum, and the 36-year-old Webster is an invaluable resource and partner in that entire process. The married father of two, hired out of the NBA league office in 2013 by the Raptors before being elevated to GM in 2017, is as responsible for building the team as his boss. He provides opinion on every transaction, handles the day-to-day operation and has the perfect demeanour for running a team.
Countless times, in private conversations, he’s preached patience about players and personnel, contemplative always but also aware of the need to make big, hard decisions when necessary.
He’s OK with bold moves as long as they are well thought out and the long-term impact is taken into consideration.
Too many times to recount he’s stood in the tunnel leading off the court at Scotiabank Arena, or in the vestibule of the locker room, and said something like “don’t worry, we’ll figure it out, no need to rush into anything” when discussing something others might see at catastrophic. He’s well respected throughout the game — by colleagues, agents, players — for being fair-minded, never hurried and honest.
Webster has been the trusted right-hand man of Ujiri. He’s been part of the key decision-making processes involving the best deals this organization has made, including the trade acquisition of Kawhi Leonard in 2019.
With Webster locked in long-term, the attention will turn to Ujiri, the 50-year-old Nigerian-Canadian.
It’s believed Ujiri would want several guarantees in place for him to stay. Money will, of course, be a big part of it. It’s believed he could command more than $12 million a season and become the highest-paid executive in the NBA.
But perhaps the president’s job is too small for Ujiri.
He has deep interests outside of basketball, including charity work involving Giants of Africa, which he founded in 2003 with the goal of discovering basketball talent. He also serves as director of Basketball Without Borders, which promotes basketball throughout the continent.
Before Ujiri got to Toronto in the final days of former president Bryan Colangelo’s run with the club in 2013, the Raptors were never considered a championship contender. The team was insecure about itself in the Toronto sports environment, which is passionate about the Maple Leafs and Blue Jays.
But Ujiri molded this team quickly and turned it into a championship team, with energy and bravado.
It’s to Ujiri’s benefit that he waits until the time is right to make his decision. He’s earned the right to leverage his assets to get the best contract he can. No doubt a big part of any negotiation will be an out-clause so that, if he signs long term, there will be an escape clause at some point.
Ujiri has been known as a thoughtful and deliberate decision maker. He has spoken publicly about his contract situation, but only in the broadest terms.
NBA Analysis: What is Yuta Watanabe’s role on this Toronto Raptors team? – Raptors HQ
To be fair, injuries have opened the door for Watanabe’s minutes. With both Norman Powell and OG Anunoby temporarily sidelined, the Raptors had a big hole on the wing. But when opportunity knocks, you still have to answer, and Watanabe did just that.
Over the five games heading into Tuesday’s rematch with the Magic, Watanabe averaged eight points, five rebounds, one steal and one block per game; he also shot 44 percent from the field and 50 percent from downtown, on 3.2 attempts per game. His true shooting percentage spiked up to .566, and even his usage — 15.9 percent — was pretty impressive for a guy who’s very clearly Toronto’s fifth option in most every lineup.
The question, then is whether or not all of the above has been enough to convince Nick Nurse to find more minutes for Watanabe, even when the coach has a full roster of healthy players. Already, Watanabe’s minutes dipped on Tuesday when Powell returned; he played just 11 minutes and took two shots in Toronto’s second straight victory over the Magic. When Anunoby returns, hopefully within the week, those numbers might drop even further.
The thing is, though, Watanabe doesn’t have to play extended minutes to make an impact.
Ultimately, the block on Vucevic is the perfect encapsulation of Watanabe’s play. It was a heads-up defensive play, sliding over when the defense broke down at the point of attack. It was a hustle play, an athletic play, getting up that high to swat away an attempt from a much bigger, much more experienced player. And it was a well-timed play, as it kept the Magic from cutting into the dwindling lead and sent the Raptors the other way in transition.
If Nurse can find 10 minutes a night for that energy, he should continue to get more smart, heads-up play from Watanabe. If those minutes have to come at the expense of someone else, surely they can come at Terence Davis, whose play thus far this season can be described as neither smart nor heads-up.
Watanabe’s earned every one of his minutes the exact same way, and if he keeps it up, I have no doubt he’ll continue to have a role on this Raptors team.
