OT Masai Ujiri out in Toronto

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Agreed timing is very odd.

My guess is it's either one of two things
1 Been in the works for a while and owners/Masai worked together to wrap up the draft as his final task
2 Owners disappointed with what Toronto did in the draft. They either were told something different by Masai would happen that didn't, or just didn't like his moves

Even if the draft was the final straw I'd imagine decision to move on was from a lot of bad Masai moves over the last few years. He really bouched the OG/Siakam trades selling very low on both. Van vleet walking for nothing. Then they see Siakam get a win from the title.
 
It was already decided but wanted to get through the draft. Its obvious. Next.
 
Talk about someone who overrated his own players. The astronomical return he tried asking for FVC, Anthony and Siakam and he ended up getting very little in comparison and they are all gone from a once promising roster.
 
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My first thought was "quick, what trade can we trick the interim GM into making" and then I looked at the Raptors roster and my faith in Ujiri's genius took a serious hit.
 
Ripcity4life77 said:
He might be flawed but I would take him over Cronin every day of the week so after the Blazers are sold -- consider him as a replacement for Cronin
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So we can have another GM who waits too long to trade players because he massively over values them?

We had that, his name was Neil Olshey.
 
SharpesTriumph said:
Agreed timing is very odd.

My guess is it's either one of two things
1 Been in the works for a while and owners/Masai worked together to wrap up the draft as his final task
2 Owners disappointed with what Toronto did in the draft. They either were told something different by Masai would happen that didn't, or just didn't like his moves

Even if the draft was the final straw I'd imagine decision to move on was from a lot of bad Masai moves over the last few years. He really bouched the OG/Siakam trades selling very low on both. Van vleet walking for nothing. Then they see Siakam get a win from the title.
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Important to point out that Bobby Webster has been the GM of the Raptors since 2017 and by all accounts makes roster decisions, up to and including this past draft, with Ujiri being the top advisor. Ujiri was the culture and personnel leader and was the best executive the Raptors ever had, or perhaps ever will have.

Ed Rogers, who inherited majority ownership of the team in a Succession-like family feud, has long been a Masai Ujiri hater, and likely made this decision unilaterally.

Rogers is also looking to push out Larry Tanenbaum who has been a governor and chairman of the board for the NBA for a long time. Tanenbaum owns the Toronto Tempo WNBA expansion team (along with Serena Williams). This will be a bigger fight for Rogers, as Tanenbaum is beloved among NBA owners.

In other words, we have a Dolan-esque nepo baby taking over the sports franchises (Leafs, Raptors, Argos, TFC, etc.) and we're gonna suffer for it.
 
Should have fired him years ago. They mismanaged a lot of talent.
 
Yeah it is definitely weird timing… 48 hours too late tbh..
 
julius said:
Shiny objects that the neighbors have always look better than what's in my garage.
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Especially with the guy I was replying to. EVERY single one of his posts are uncomfortably negative.
 
BrianFromWA said:
I would not.
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raptor fan on reddit:

Everyone saying "well he's made some questionable moves the past few years" here is missing the point. Since Masai took over, we've had the 5th most wins in the league, a championship, a conference finals, and our 8 most successful seasons in history. Before he came we were Hornets/Wizards level bad if not even worse.
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i find it ridiculous that cronin has a job and ujiri does not.
 
Siakam commented how he found his love of playing basketball again when he was moved to Indiana. OG seemed pretty happy to leave as well.

Masai also basically allowed FVV to leave with no compensation. His hit rate after 2020 was pretty low and it seems that some players were less than happy with playing there over time, especially amazing for Siakam which they basically raised.

I think the Blazers are better off with who they have at the moment.
 
andalusian said:
Siakam commented how he found his love of playing basketball again when he was moved to Indiana. OG seemed pretty happy to leave as well.

Masai also basically allowed FVV to leave with no compensation. His hit rate after 2020 was pretty low and it seems that some players were less than happy with playing there over time, especially amazing for Siakam which they basically raised.

I think the Blazers are better off with who they have at the moment.
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They did get a title out of Leonard, but he bolted and ever since then they've been also-rans.
 
speeds said:
Important to point out that Bobby Webster has been the GM of the Raptors since 2017 and by all accounts makes roster decisions, up to and including this past draft, with Ujiri being the top advisor. Ujiri was the culture and personnel leader and was the best executive the Raptors ever had, or perhaps ever will have.

Ed Rogers, who inherited majority ownership of the team in a Succession-like family feud, has long been a Masai Ujiri hater, and likely made this decision unilaterally.

Rogers is also looking to push out Larry Tanenbaum who has been a governor and chairman of the board for the NBA for a long time. Tanenbaum owns the Toronto Tempo WNBA expansion team (along with Serena Williams). This will be a bigger fight for Rogers, as Tanenbaum is beloved among NBA owners.

In other words, we have a Dolan-esque nepo baby taking over the sports franchises (Leafs, Raptors, Argos, TFC, etc.) and we're gonna suffer for it.
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Spurs should offer a D'Aaron Fox-for-Scottie Barnes swap and take advantage of the chaos
 
illmatic99 said:
raptor fan on reddit:



i find it ridiculous that cronin has a job and ujiri does not.
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It's not ridiculous because Jody doesn't give a shit. They clearly have known roughly when they're going to sell the team. Joe is also operating like a guy who knows he doesn't have a future here. He's probably throwing a hail mary that the team makes a run this year. The Jrue trade makes zero sense otherwise.
 
I don’t understand why winners like Masai, Bud, Michael Malone, and Nick Nurse get fired. They won you a fucking championship! Show some loyalty.
 
KingSpeed said:
I don’t understand why winners like Masai, Bud, Michael Malone, and Nick Nurse get fired. They won you a fucking championship! Show some loyalty.
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Well, technically, the players won them the championships. But I agree with you....unless they get too arrogant for their own good.
 
KingSpeed said:
I don’t understand why winners like Masai, Bud, Michael Malone, and Nick Nurse get fired. They won you a fucking championship! Show some loyalty.
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They did. For a lot of years. No sense living in the past.
 
julius said:
They did get a title out of Leonard, but he bolted and ever since then they've been also-rans.
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I think most fanbases would trade five or six years of shit for a ring?

If the Clippers hadn't been willing to triple-mortgage the house for PG, Leonard's second choice was to stay in Toronto.
 
illmatic99 said:
raptor fan on reddit:
i find it ridiculous that cronin has a job and ujiri does not.
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A) While I'm a believer that fans on message boards can know what they're talking about--especially about their team--from time to time, this is just another time it seems I'm zagging against conventional wisdom.
b) It's not his questionable moves--of which there are a significant amount, and especially since the championship, but (similarly to Olshey), it's his attitude about his role and his infallibility that give me pause to hire him. He talks about "innovation" and "hiring people smarter than him", but he also says things like (in terms of firing Casey after winning CotY and trading DeRozan after he told him--allegedly--that he wouldn't) basically "I brought them here and gave them the chance." Wasn't a great "read the room" moment. And if that was the only one, that's understandable. But there's a lot of smoke there.

Results matter and he did a good job of scorching earth and going all-in on Kawhi and winning the Finals. At the same time, if the Game 7 ball bounces 3x instead of 4, he's got as many chips as the Toronto Huskies do and he makes it out of the 2nd round once in 12 years. Kinda like another team I know...

Dude, I get arrogance and thinking you're better and smarter than everyone else. And he's an extremely accomplished guy (his work in NBA Africa is legit). But leadership is also about taking responsibility for bad, praising subordinates for good and for not putting yourself above the org, especially when the last results you had weren't this decade. I haven't gotten that from him. :shrug: YMMV.

(For the record, Phil Jackson and Steve Kerr are in this bin as well. Flame away.)
 
BrianFromWA said:
A) While I'm a believer that fans on message boards can know what they're talking about--especially about their team--from time to time, this is just another time it seems I'm zagging against conventional wisdom.
b) It's not his questionable moves--of which there are a significant amount, and especially since the championship, but (similarly to Olshey), it's his attitude about his role and his infallibility that give me pause to hire him. He talks about "innovation" and "hiring people smarter than him", but he also says things like (in terms of firing Casey after winning CotY and trading DeRozan after he told him--allegedly--that he wouldn't) basically "I brought them here and gave them the chance." Wasn't a great "read the room" moment. And if that was the only one, that's understandable. But there's a lot of smoke there.

Results matter and he did a good job of scorching earth and going all-in on Kawhi and winning the Finals. At the same time, if the Game 7 ball bounces 3x instead of 4, he's got as many chips as the Toronto Huskies do and he makes it out of the 2nd round once in 12 years. Kinda like another team I know...

Dude, I get arrogance and thinking you're better and smarter than everyone else. And he's an extremely accomplished guy (his work in NBA Africa is legit). But leadership is also about taking responsibility for bad, praising subordinates for good and for not putting yourself above the org, especially when the last results you had weren't this decade. I haven't gotten that from him. :shrug: YMMV.

(For the record, Phil Jackson and Steve Kerr are in this bin as well. Flame away.)
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Washington Du yes
 
BrianFromWA said:
A) While I'm a believer that fans on message boards can know what they're talking about--especially about their team--from time to time, this is just another time it seems I'm zagging against conventional wisdom.
b) It's not his questionable moves--of which there are a significant amount, and especially since the championship, but (similarly to Olshey), it's his attitude about his role and his infallibility that give me pause to hire him. He talks about "innovation" and "hiring people smarter than him", but he also says things like (in terms of firing Casey after winning CotY and trading DeRozan after he told him--allegedly--that he wouldn't) basically "I brought them here and gave them the chance." Wasn't a great "read the room" moment. And if that was the only one, that's understandable. But there's a lot of smoke there.

Results matter and he did a good job of scorching earth and going all-in on Kawhi and winning the Finals. At the same time, if the Game 7 ball bounces 3x instead of 4, he's got as many chips as the Toronto Huskies do and he makes it out of the 2nd round once in 12 years. Kinda like another team I know...

Dude, I get arrogance and thinking you're better and smarter than everyone else. And he's an extremely accomplished guy (his work in NBA Africa is legit). But leadership is also about taking responsibility for bad, praising subordinates for good and for not putting yourself above the org, especially when the last results you had weren't this decade. I haven't gotten that from him. :shrug: YMMV.

(For the record, Phil Jackson and Steve Kerr are in this bin as well. Flame away.)
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He let Siakam walk and got nothing?
 
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