Ujiri talk won’t go away
The Toronto Raptors took care of some long- expected business on Wednesday, even as a loud distraction emanated from Gotham.
Bobby Webster was promoted to general manager, Dan Tolzman to assistant GM/ vice president, player personnel and Keith Boyarsky to VP basketball strategy & research.
And Masai Ujiri will continue to oversee basketball operations as president of the club.
That line was the key one in a release sent by the club, since early Wednesday morning the news had dropped that the New York Knicks and Phil Jackson were parting ways after a disastrous fling together. Further reports from ESPN had beleaguered Knicks owner James Dolan restarting his pursuit of Ujiri, of whom he has long been a fan.
That sent the Raptors’ fanbase into panic-mode.
However, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment likely headed this scenario off at the path about a year ago when Ujiri was given a long- term extension and a significant raise.
That deal still has four years remaining and Ujiri has been granted total autonomy in Toronto and has overseen the greatest run of success in franchise history. The organization has also contributed millions of dollars to his Giants of Africa program and continues to do so.
Still, we can’t know for sure until Ujiri shuts the talk down, and he wasn’t prepared to do that on Wednesday when Webster was introduced.
“I know it’s been a crazy day in the NBA. Today’s all about Bobby Webster, and he deserves it. And also Dan Tolzman and Keith Boyarsky, who we promoted,” Ujiri said.
“It’s their day. Everything we’ve done in this organization and going forward, they have contributed in every way that they could and have been a big part of it.”
Not long after that, Ujiri left the room and left Webster to get used to life in the spotlight.
But Webster knew the day had been hijacked by this commotion anyway and he isn’t the type to care, much like Ujiri and former GM Jeff Weltman.
Ujiri had fleeced the Knicks in a pair of deals ( Carmelo Anthony and Andrea Bargnani), first while helming the Denver Nuggets, and then just after he returned to the Raptors (where he had previously served as assistant GM under Bryan Colangelo). That scared Dolan off of a potential Kyle Lowry deal that would, in hindsight, have been a coup for the Knicks.
After the Jackson disaster, the Knicks clearly want to generate positive headlines for once and with Tim Leiweke now getting involved with the team, it was only natural that Ujiri’s name would come up again. Leiweke brought Ujiri to Toronto when he was in charge of MLSE in one of his signature moves and is a huge fan.
“They should know the future of the Raptors is ultimately about Masai and they should feel extremely comfortable,” Leiweke had told Postmedia shortly before he left the organization when asked how fans should feel about his leaving a basketball side he had been a strong supporter of.
“My job was to find a good leader, and I did. I will leave behind that great leader and he’s the guy who will take them to the next heights.”
At the time, Ujiri admitted that it was tough to see Leiweke go.
“It was phenomenal. It was great. We had ways of getting through everything, whether it was good or bad,” Ujiri said
Still, don’t expect a reunion in New York. MLSE knows what it has in Ujiri and has done its part to all but ensure he stays put — at least they hope. Sources say MLSE would fight hard to ensure substantial compensation should it come to that.
Ujiri, Webster and Weltman were given elevated job titles and raises in May of 2016 in an attempt to make poaching any of them harder. Weltman did end up leaving to become president in Orlando a month ago, but that was a promotion to head of basketball operations. Ujiri already has the highest title possible here and, if forced into a corner, MLSE would surely demand significant compensation f r om t he Knicks.
Webster is regarded as a salary cap guru. He previously worked for the NBA and helped write the previous collective bargaining agreement (a new one goes into effect on July 1).
Tolzman has been the scouting lead, among other responsibilities, and was the GM of Raptors 905, D-League champions in Year 2 of existence.
Boyarsky has been the team’s director of analytics for several years after first coming aboard in 2009 as a consultant with Alex Rucker, who now leads Colangelo’s analytics team with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The promoted team hopes Ujiri will remain in place to lead them.
“There’s speculation everyday. I don’t think I need to necessarily comment on that specifically. But the stability between Larry and Masai in this organization I think is clear and I’m happy to be part of all of it,” Webster said.