Oh, boy. That turned into a day or two, didn’t it?
Not surprisingly, you know what dominates Ye Olde Mailbag this week, so enjoy.
And now it’s time to get ready for the real basketball business of the summer.
Good morning, Doug. I do hope this email finds you well and healthy. Please don’t yell at me too loudly, but I was not a long-term fan of Masai Ujiri. He made one terrific trade and that was it. Last year we fans were told to wait until the draft, then until the summer was over and then wait until the February trade deadline. Nothing, nothing and nothing. Doug, he made one great trade and we anointed him king and gave him a king’s ransom for pay. This year we were tantalized by speculation that Kevin Durant or Giannis Antetokounmpo were coming via a trade. Nothing again. What did he do when everyone said we need a big? He drafted two more wings who can’t shoot. Are we building a basketball team or a multi-winged turkey?
He has done essentially nothing to improve this team with the lack of trades and a lousy draft. He’s traded away Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby, all who led their teams to the playoffs. He nixed putting the WNBA under the MLSE roof (according to today’s paper). I believe he should have been gone at least a year ago.
Under the “what have you done for me lately” category, he comes up with a goose egg. Let’s see if he gets $15 million from another team or whether he heads toward politics. I’m glad he’s gone. Let’s do something now!
I won’t yell too loud, but I will raise my voice a bit. And I know everyone’s able to form their own opinions, but most should be based on fact.
One terrific trade and that’s it? Seems to miss the drafting of Siakam, VanVleet, Anunoby and Norman Powell, the re-signing (a couple of times) of Kyle Lowry, a period from 2013 to 2020 when the Raptors were in the top five teams in the league in wins. He actually advocated heavily for the WNBA and was shot down by Edward Rogers; you misread the old story entirely.
Yes, the last two years haven’t been great, but I think sane-thinking people can see there’s better times ahead. No GM in any sport anywhere hits 100 per cent.
So, your opinion is your opinion and you’re entitled to it. It just seems that it glosses over a whole raft of facts.
So many comments about the loss of Toronto’s own “great one,” Masai. But how will the players react?
I haven’t had a chance to speak to any of them, but I would be sure that Masai would have spoken to many, if not all, and thanked them and told them to go ahead in returning the Raptors to true relevance.
I don’t think there’ll be any adverse effects — no one’s going to demand a trade — but general manager Bobby Webster and whoever joins the organization will have to assure agents and players that it’s business as usual.
So season ends, a ho-hum week follows … far from it! From Wednesday night to Friday morning, this looks like the most tumultuous 48 hours in Raptors history! Little did we know that two days later, everyone would be requoting Collin Murray-Boyles upon being drafted (for many reasons)!
1) Masai’s final word: DEFENCE!
Above all else, in his final draft Ujiri put the emphasis on defence, a bigger need than drafting centres. Do you think whoever comes in will address this need? Does Chris Boucher go from the doghouse to the penthouse?
2) What do you think of the development of Siakam? Insane for someone who took up the game so late to reach this level! I think at first glance I saw his speed, length and hustle. Obviously he worked really hard on his handle and shooting since, but is part of what makes him so dangerous the fact that opponents don’t realize how fast and how long he really is?
3) I read an article about Kobe Bryant’s pre-draft visit with the Lakers. Basically once people saw him play one-on-one against an NBA player and how well he did, Jerry West demanded that they pick him above anyone else! Isn’t this the ultimate litmus test for draftees?
4) After several serious injuries during the playoffs, what about the NBA taking a page from the NFL and initiating bye weeks? If the league insists on 80-plus games, plus an in-season tournament, to say nothing of playoffs, doesn’t at least another rest period make sense? Crazy to consider two weeks? Maybe a late September start?
Thanks for all your pre-draft player profiles.
Time will tell who’s a future star and whose future is stark!
Yes, it was indeed a day. And will now add “team president search” to the things to do in the coming months.
They were always going to address a backup centre in free agency, Summer League impressions, later in the summer. It hasn’t changed as it turns out. But I cannot see a way that Boucher comes back now. I think that ship has sailed, and I just hope he finds an NBA job. I suspect it’ll be near the end of the summer, though.
One of the most overlooked aspects of Siakam’s game is his defence, which comes from his length and quickness and, yes, he’s a pretty impressive talent. But he’s been in the league long enough that no one’s caught unaware by him.
Being able to hold your own against NBAers one-on-one is nice; the ability to understand the game in the context of team styles and schemes is probably better.
I think maybe starting a week earlier and ending a week later would allow the league to cut down on back-to-backs and four-game weeks. That’s more likely than any shutdown or cutting back on the schedule.
Should we take the Raptors not drafting a centre as a vote of confidence in Ulrich Chomche?
No, I don’t think so. While they still expect Chomche to be a player — we asked Webster about him directly the other night and he said he’s coming along just at the pace the Raptors expected — but they’ll find a few-minutes-a-night guy in free agency or at the Summer League.
How much do you think the dismissal of Masai Ujiri was personal dislike by Edward Rogers and that of Pelley. This reminds me of the worst firing by an owner since Norm Macdonald from “SNL.”
No one said it publicly on Friday, but I keep referring everyone to this story:
Hey, Doug. And you thought you have a relaxing, noneventful Canada Day long weekend! Now I understand why Collin Murray-Boyles reacted the way he did. Was he given a heads up as to what was coming?
I just watched Keith (the Executioner) Pelley’s press conference, so allow me to rant. I don’t think I have ever seen or read a bigger pile of fertilizer. He basically stated several times that now was the time to fire Masai, and because of the strong brand and culture he built there’s a strong front office, solid coaching and a good, promising group of players. What better time to fire the architect of all of these positive actions? The new president can expect that if the Raptors win the championship, he’ll get fired the day after. Pelley was more evasive than a Trump acolyte at a Senate confirmation hearing — “I don’t recall … I can’t remember … it depends …”
I felt like screaming at the television, knowing full well that sound only travels one way on the old tube. What I found especially galling was his repeated reference to the solid Raptors brand. While I may not be a basketball expert, I have spent my career in branding. If Pelley knows anything about branding, he would know that a brand lives in the hearts and minds of its stakeholders. In this case, this means that the Raptors brand resides with its fans (and not just fans in Toronto, something Pelley appeared to ignore) as well as the team, the whole Raptors operation, with the league (including all the players, the other teams’ offices, media, etc.). How likely will this move ease the future signing of free agents, and retaining Raptors whose contracts expire? The Raptors brand has been damaged by this inexplicable firing, though in all fairness it is not fatal — depending on what happens next. (Thanks for indulging my rant.)
Other than saying that Bobby Webster is a candidate to succeed Masai, it was intriguing to hear that Pelley was looking for “a personality” as the new president. I understand Charles Barkley may be looking for a job. Could he be interested? He has always stated his love of the city.
Now to the question I was originally intending to send: Since the Raptors did not draft a “big” player, who do you think the Raptors should target for a backup centre or power forward, either through a trade or free agency? (And I guess that any potential Giannis deal has died with Masai’s departure.)
Hope you do manage to relax a bit this weekend, and you are appreciated as always.
Good rant. And yes, there was a large measure of obfuscation and “as I said” coming out of Friday. There was no “why” because there is no logical “why” reason given all the palaver they gave anyone to work with.
As I mentioned elsewhere here, I can’t give you a “who” until player movement begins in the next couple of weeks, but they’ll find one. But really, I know it’s a hole in the roster and we’ve been mentioning it for a while, but you’re talking about maybe 16 or so minutes a night and I am dead sure you’re going to see coach Darko Rajakovic use small lineups with Scottie Barnes as the de facto centre.
The spot is open, but it’s not an overly vital one.
Hello, Doug. It’s been a while; guess I’m an irregular Irregular. Can’t imagine what’s going to fill your inbox this weekend.
It seems like there’s been reliable interest in Masai from other teams in the league. Given that, couldn’t MLSE have milked that and tried to negotiate his exit to another team and gain some form of assets rather than just outright firing him?
Will be interesting to see how this pans out. I wish Masai all the best and thank for him for the memories (although I’ve chosen to basically sit out the last couple of years).
I cannot fathom MLSE wanting to “trade” its basketball leader, and I also cannot fathom Masai is eyeing his next job. Sure, there will be much interest in him, but I know Masai pretty well and he’s not in any rush to get right back in the fray. And if I was him, I’d insist on a small ownership stake in the next franchise I work for, if indeed he wants to work for an NBA team again.
Hi, Doug. I’m no orthopedic surgeon, but as someone with a working knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, it stands to reason that noncontact Achilles injuries may occur at least in part due to early return to high-level play (i.e. late-round playoffs) from a different lower-body injury.
If a muscle is weak or injured, it puts additional stress on another muscle or tendon in order to compensate for said weakness. Look at the cases of Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum and Kevin Durant from the 2019 season, to name a few, and it’s hard to not make a correlation.
So why do teams continue to trot these guys out onto the court during a time when there is a significant increased risk of a more serious injury? I get that the player wants to play — Haliburton said himself he’d do it again — but should it not be the responsibility of the team and its medical staff to say “we need you healthy next year” and basically force the player to sit out?
Injuries suck, all of them do. And having three high-profile players go down with torn Achilles in quick fashion certainly brought that specific injury to the fore.
But teams, leagues, agents, players, all are working as hard as they can to find any root reason, which they have not yet. And I get the “save them from themselves” idea of sitting players against their wishes and can guarantee you most teams, with perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, are as careful as they possibly can be and are consulting with medical experts at the highest level. And maybe now players will be less anxious to get back but, at its very heart, this is an individual decision after gathering all the possible information.
And sometimes crap just happens. Unavoidable. Disheartening. Stinky bad crap.
Immanuel Quickley/RJ Barrett — both names have appeared recently in trade chatter. This seems surprising. It’s like the narrative just changes when there’s a full moon. First: We needed to give Quickley/Barrett/Barnes/Jakob Poeltl/Brandon Ingram a chance to show if they can play together. And now: We will give a chance to whomever we give a chance to. They worked hard on building team culture last year, but it is hard to build culture when your bosses see you as a card to play in a very small deck. Suddenly, we’ve been seeing nuanced views of the value of Quickley and Barrett. Who flipped this switch?
Particularly surprised about Quickley, given our lack of a first-string point guard otherwise. Is it the view that he’s good, but not good enough?
Barnes has certainly developed a lot, which is nice to see. But surely in retrospect, anointing him as the chosen one the way the Raptors did, so early on, was a mistake? I don’t see the good that came out of it.
My old question from a different narrative: Siakam said he found the joy in basketball again, and you certainly have to be happy for him. But it clearly implies there wasn’t happiness here, which really can’t be a surprise. Who actually takes the blame for that? We know it didn’t work out. But to avoid repeating mistakes, who took the joy out of basketball when he was here? Is it on one person? Was it the addition of Barnes? Was it a combination of things? They even brought his friend, Poeltl, back here. And still — the joy was gone.
Going back to the present Raptors, interesting draft choice. I’m assuming you’re assuming the lineup today won’t be the lineup on opening day.
It’s time to bring Lowry back. I know anything can happen, but I’m not seeing a championship happening in Philadelphia. He wants his final game played as a Raptor. Let’s get this done now. He should have stayed here in the first place. Sports don’t work that way anymore, but this is to the detriment of these sports. I admire a player like DeMar DeRozan in a way that I don’t a LeBron James or a Durant. Too old to change. It wouldn’t hurt to have a point guard here. He could be of tremendous teaching value, too. One could imagine him staying with the team beyond his playing days.
I don’t know the financial ramifications, but the dude is 39 years old. Surely we can find a roster spot.
The Raptors tend to be a bunch of very nice guys. We aren’t a particularly tough team. Barnes may the toughest on the team (?) but it really takes a lot to rile him up. Lowry was tough. Tough as nails, led by example. We need a bit of that here, in my opinion. We’re a little too nice.
Is Boucher gone? That gives us a chair to fill.
I don’t expect they will trade either Barrett or Quickley. But if they are looking at big swings, their contracts have to be included to make anything of that size work. But I agree, they need to give this group with Ingram a chance to work.
I’ve said forever that any “face of a franchise” has to be earned rather than bestowed. Maybe Barnes earns it, but we don’t know 100 per cent.
There is no one thing to “blame” for the way that championship/COVID/Tampa Tank broke down. It’s shared among players who grew tired and a bit jealous of each other, coaching that got a bit stale and management that probably waited just a wee bit too long, but was acting out of respect for a group that had worked so well in the past.
Even before Friday’s news, I didn’t think Lowry was a fit. It’s a been-there, done-that situation. I know he loves being at home and would only entertain other jobs in cities where he can play a lot of golf. Don’t get me wrong, he loves Toronto and has the utmost respect for Larry Tanenbaum and Masai, but it’s a non-starter.
Doug, in cynical times here are remarks — see link below — by Vin Scully that can make you proud of your profession.
If you were teaching a sports journalism class, besides showing this clip (!), what else would you include as core curriculum for aspiring sports journalists?
Tell stories of people, not numbers. Strive to inform and entertain, but always keep in mind that fairness and context matters to anything you write. Don’t scream, ever, and it should never be about “you.”
Respect the women and men you’re writing or talking about. They may be otherworldly athletes at the pinnacle of their craft, but they are also humans with human lives.
Oh, and listen to Vin Scully tell stories as often as you can.
Hi, Doug. Something is very fishy. The Mavericks essentially gave away Luka Doncic in a ridiculously lopsided trade to the Lakers without talking to any other teams. Then the Mavericks tank the rest of the season and win the draft lottery despite having a one per cent chance to win it. Then the Lakers sell for a record $10 billion while boasting a lineup that includes Luka and LeBron.
Not gonna lie … The odds that this is all coincidental are probably astronomical. With the amount of money in sports and gambling, it’s not hard to believe the fix was in.
Should I care about professional sports anymore? Should I give up on sports all together and maybe take more of an active role in my community with the extra time I’ll have on my hands?
My gut feeling is that sports should always present escapes and wonderful examinations of athletic brilliance, and insight into how men and women handle both defeat and victory. But reading this, I don’t think sports and your conspiracy theorism can coexist, so maybe there are food banks or shelters or other charitable organizations you can enjoy helping?
