Canadian will play for Raptors, Ujiri promises

Masai Ujiri vowed there will be a Canadian on the Raptors during his tenure in Toronto and said he plans to hire a scout to focus on Canadian talent. He also hinted strongly that the player he most covets is rookie sensation Andrew Wiggins.

The Raptors president and GM was the keynote speaker at Monday night’s Canadian Basketball Speakers Forum to kick off the Canadian university men’s championships.

Ujiri addressed everything from the growth of the game in Canada to the Raptors’ recent slump, and even the F-bomb he famously dropped during last year’s playoff run against the Brooklyn Nets.

It was a feel-good night for Canadian basketball, as Ujiri, legendary NCAA coach George Raveling — now the director of international basketball for Nike — and former Raptors GM Glen Grunwald and his Vancouver Grizzlies counterpart Stu Jackson, among others, gathered to talk about the game, and just how far it has come in Canada.

Ujiri said having a Canadian on the Raptors is “an obligation we have to fulfil. We’re a Canadian team and I think to have Canadian players I think would be phenomenal.

“There is no doubt in my mind . . . during my time, even if my time is short, there will be a Canada playing for the Toronto Raptors, 100 per cent. I have no doubt in my mind, it’s something we think about every day, it’s something we study . . . the guys in the NBA, the ones outside the NBA, the younger kids, the kids in college, the kids playing overseas. We’re just waiting for that one to come.”

Toronto’s Jamaal Magloire is the only Canadian to have played for the Raptors, playing for one season. .

Ujiri said he planned to hire a scout to concentrate on Canadian players “because the growth of the game here is so big.”

When asked if there was one player he’d love to see in Toronto — taking LeBron James off the table — Ujiri left little doubt that it’s Wiggins, the budding superstar from Vaughan, Ont.

“We all know who he is, I’m not even going to say his name,” Ujiri said — more cheers from the crowd.

In case there was any doubt, he added: “He might be Canadian.”