Former Rogers chair Edward Rogers actively fought plans to keep Masai Ujiri as head of the Toronto Raptors this summer — saying that he was not worth the amount offered — and then tried to extract an extraordinary benefit for his own company, the Star has learned.
To the relief of fans, the ploy by Rogers was unsuccessful, and the Raptors announced on Aug. 5 that Ujiri was staying on in Toronto as vice chairman and president of basketball operations.
However, new details have emerged suggesting that behind the scenes the former chair of Rogers Communications Inc. tried to sabotage a high-performing executive with whom he had grown disenchanted — and ultimately failed in his bid because he appeared not to fully understand the governance structure of the NBA franchise.
There are parallels between the situation, which was confirmed to the Star by three sources with knowledge of the events, and what is playing out now at his family-controlled company. Telecommunications giant Rogers Communications has been plunged into chaos after Edward’s failed attempt to unseat the CEO, his subsequent removal as chair of the board last week, and his disputed claim that he has established a new board of directors.
The Star is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly about this matter.
Edward Rogers said Sunday that he has the “utmost respect for Masai Ujiri,” citing his leadership, track record in scouting and building a roster, and his global citizenship.
“Above all, I respect the man,” Rogers said. “Masai built an NBA Champion and I have every confidence in him and his team to do so again.”
He said that negotiations can “test both sides” and said it was unfortunate that confidential board proceedings were made public.
Ujiri, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) and Rogers Communications all declined to comment for this story.
Prior to his run-in over Ujiri, Edward was still chair of Rogers Communications, which owns a 37.5-per-cent stake of Raptors owner MLSE. Rival telecom BCE Inc. owns another 37.5 per cent and Larry Tanenbaum’s Kilmer Group controls the balance.
After weeks of negotiations that began in mid-July, both MLSE chair Tanenbaum and Bell were on board with offering Ujiri a sweetened package that included incentive pay tied to a future increase in value of the Raptors — he had already added $500 million in value to the franchise since his arrival in 2013, taken the team to the playoffs in every year prior to the pandemic and won the NBA championship in 2019.
Other sports franchises from around the world were chasing Ujiri, according to an NBA source. One NBA team’s offer included a three-per-cent ownership stake along with a salary that eclipsed the $15 million per year deal he ultimately struck with MLSE. Teams in the English Premier League — soccer’s top domestic league — also made entreaties to Ujiri, an NBA Executive of the Year winner.
Tanenbaum and Bell were ready to lock Ujiri down, but, according to two sources close to the MLSE board, Edward Rogers was the holdout.
He told his partners he felt the compensation was too high, and, according to the MLSE sources and a source close to the NBA, Rogers was convinced the Raptors could be managed without Ujiri’s help by existing general manager Bobby Webster.
The increasingly tense situation came to a head during a late July meeting at Rogers’s Lake Rosseau cottage that cemented the executive’s antagonism toward the Raptors president.
Ujiri left the meeting feeling positive but Rogers told Tanenbaum it was one of the worst meetings he had ever had, according to MLSE sources. Rogers said the Raptors president was arrogant, according to sources, arriving with bodyguards, and that he failed to share his vision for the team.
The NBA source said Ujiri was caught off guard by that interpretation of the meeting, which he said had been amicable. The source also disputed that Ujiri brought bodyguards, saying the Raptors head had gone to Muskoka with his long-time driver so he could work in the car during the drive, as well as the videographer for a charitable project, who was tagging along as they were heading back to the airport after.
The sources said some time after the meeting, Rogers called Ujiri and told him he wasn’t worth the money he was being paid. The NBA source said the call left Ujiri feeling so angry and disrespected by Rogers that he considered taking a year off as president of the Raptors.
Others in the Maple Leaf Sports executive ranks went into damage-control mode, the two sources close to MLSE said, prompting a round of further calls to Ujiri to reassure him he would be protected from Rogers and urging him to ignore the comments.
Ujiri’s relationship with key MLSE board members, notably Tanenbaum, Dale Lastman and Bell CEO Mirko Bibic, ultimately made him feel comfortable enough to return to the Raptors as the team’s vice-chairman and president, the NBA source said.
Meanwhile, Rogers had been holding out on agreeing to the contract and said he would only back down if 12 conditions were met. Eleven of the conditions concerned contractual issues such as the terms of incentive-based pay, but the 12th had nothing to do with Ujiri’s compensation.
The MLSE sources said Rogers wanted Bell and Tanenbaum to agree to a complex and potentially contentious plan that would see Rogers Communications take its 37.5-per-cent stake in MLSE (which owns the Raptors, Toronto Maple Leafs, Argos, Toronto FC and other teams), and combine it with the Toronto Blue Jays to create a separate company.
Siakam absence leaves a real hole in Raptors offence | Toronto Sun
Without Siakam, Toronto’s offence is challenged, particularly in the halfcourt.
Yes, it’s only been three games, but in those three games they have scored 98, 115, and 93 points.
The two lower scoring games, both losses, came against Washington and Dallas, neither team considered a defensive juggernaut though admittedly off to a better start this season than in years past in that regard.
Siakam doesn’t just require defensive attention, he demands a lot of it, and even when he gets it, he’s a very capable scorer. But without him in the lineup right now and with no real threat from among their bigs to space things out, teams are staying home and protecting the paint, meaning even when a determined OG Anunoby is in attack mode, he’s running into a crowded painted area with little room to operate.
It worked early in the Dallas game because Kristaps Porzingas avoids contact.
Siakam unlocks a lot for Anunoby just with his mere presence. Whether it’s Anunoby making a drive or camped out at the three-point line, there is more space for Anunoby just because teams have to stay attached to some degree to Siakam.
The same applies to a lesser degree to Fred VanVleet. How many times already this year have you seen VanVleet beat his man above the painted area on his way to the basket only to see a wall of bodies waiting for him either forcing him to finish among the trees or reversing course and re-setting.
Until Siakam returns, the Raptors have to rely on running in transition and getting odd-man advantages, that way or figuring out how to create some space for the drivers like Anunoby, VanVleet and Scottie Barnes.
The Raptors’ Khem Birch is getting better. He plans on helping others get better, too | The Star
Birch is 29 years old, junior to only 35-year-old Goran Dragic on the roster, and is playing in his fifth NBA season. His years of service put him ahead of nine of the players under contract; his 208 career games going into this season were more than all but four of his teammates.
The six-foot-eight centre has persevered through lean times and good times, a bit player for a couple of seasons in Orlando, an emerging talent in a 19-game run with the Raptors at the end of the 2020-21 season.
If young players like Achiuwa can’t watch and learn from an undrafted project out of college who worked himself into a three-year, $20-million (U.S.) contract with the Raptors, that’s their own failing.
Birch knows he has wisdom to impart.
“We have a lot of young guys on our team so I got to just help them out, show them the right way,” he said. “Just play team basketball. In this system we have a lot of freedom but … they don’t understand that just because you have freedom doesn’t mean you shoot everything.
“As a vet, you have to show them that defence comes first and then that can translate to the other end of the floor.”
The one person Birch may be able to help the most is 22-year-old Precious Achiuwa, who will share centre duties with Birch this season. Achiuwa is like Birch was when Birch arrived in Toronto, a promising big man given a substantial role.
“I just try to encourage him,” Birch said. “A lot of young guys when they start have a lot of pressure so … I’m just trying to help him out and just make sure he understands how to play team basketball.”
Achiuwa was limited in his role as a rookie with Miami last season, just like Birch was until the Raptors gave him far more offensive leeway. Handling that freedom is not easy, as Birch knows.
“He was in a box, but just because you are out of the box, it doesn’t mean you can shoot everything and do too much,” Birch said. “As a vet, you have to teach him that.”
Nurse said he will continue to split centre minutes between Birch and Achiuwa almost evenly, with nightly matchups dictating who plays the most each night.
Raptors Have Seen Gary Trent Jr. Become a Defensive Pest – Sports Illustrated
Trent’s defense was really going to be the make-or-break part of the Norman Powell trade. Either he’d improve, something Powell couldn’t seem to do defensively, or Trent would end up just being a less offensively explosive version of Powell for about the same price.
Well, early returns suggest an offseason in Toronto’s system has certainly paid off for Trent. Through three games, he already has eight steals, the second-most in the NBA, and 13 deflections, the third most and just four behind Fred VanVleet who leads the league in the category.
“Ever since I’ve got here, even last year, they’ve been harping to me, defense, defense, deflections, hands out, get in passing lanes,” Trent said. “So really just getting at it every day. Listening to my coaches, trying to get better on the defensive end, and just trying to stay active.
Trent had to adjust his mindset a little bit. He can be a little tentative by nature, settling for mid-range jumpers on the offensive end or playing conservative on defense. In Toronto, that’s not going to fly. Raptors coach Nick Nurse is constantly asking his players to attack defensively as they try to create chaos, force turnovers, and get out and run in transition.
“I think that we like to try to be aggressive on the ball and I think maybe that’s a little different for him,” Nurse said. “I think because it’s taken some time to get him up but now, I think he’s finding out now he’s got really quick hands while he’s up there, he’s got some good timing, and some craftiness up there with his hands.”
On opening night, he gambled on a bad pass from Aaron Holiday, leaving his man Raul Neto wide open for what would have been an easy layup had he missed the steal. Instead, he poked the ball loose and scored a transition layup at the other end. It was a perfect Raptors play. A quarter later, he fronted a mismatch against Montrezl Harrell and swiped a bad pass from Spencer Dinwiddie. The following game, he twice pickpocketed Celtics attackers, using his quick hands to strip Al Horford at the top of the key and Jayson Tatum trying to drive baseline.
“Really just being aggressive, going out there, playing hard, the ref calls it, the ref calls it, they don’t, they don’t,” Trent said following the Celtics game. “Try to be aggressive and get as many stops as you can, deflections, anything to disrupt their offense, anything to slow them down a little bit, that’s kind of a win.”
Chris Boucher: Raptors big man looks to rise to Nick Nurse’s latest challenge | NBA.com
Boucher, who is coming off of a career season in which he averaged 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks over 60 games, provides a different dynamic than Toronto’s other bigs with a unique blend of 3-point shooting, rebounding and rim protection. That said, Boucher’s ability to contribute in multiple areas is a big factor in the team’s ability to find success, which provides more context to Nurse’s vocal criticism.
This isn’t the first time that Nurse has called out one of his players, or Boucher, for that matter. In March of 2020, Nurse said that Boucher and the Raptors reserves hadn’t “played worth a darn,” to which Boucher responded with a 19-point, 15-rebound double-double in a win over the Phoenix Suns.
A year and a half later, Nurse’s early-season words double as an assessment of what he has seen so far and a challenge for Boucher to get back to the level of play he displayed during the 2020-21 season. It’s worth noting that Boucher’s slow start can be attributed to the fact that this is his first action of the season after missing the entirety of training camp and the preseason as he recovered from undergoing minor surgery on his non-shooting hand.
From that perspective, the first three games of this season have been like Boucher’s preseason, as each of Toronto’s rotational players got three to four games of tune-ups to sharpen the tools for the regular season, leaving Boucher a bit behind the curve.
Given the Raptors’ slim margin for error and the fact that these wins and losses count now, they can ill-afford any more ineffective showings from Boucher, which would further explain Nurse’s words. Big showings from Boucher can be the difference between the Raptors floundering and finding success as they anticipate Siakam’s return, which could come in late November.
