Masai Ujiri Address Trade Deadline, Plans Moving Forward, and Being Patient
There was an almost solemn aura emanating from Masai Ujiri as the Toronto Raptors President and Vice-Chairman spoke to the assembled media following Thursday's trade deadline. For a man who so often exudes confidence, this was different. It was awkward.
Toronto seemed to shock the NBA world Thursday afternoon, standing pat after acquiring Jakob Poeltl from the San Antonio Spurs early in the morning, and opting to keep O.G. Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr., Fred VanVleet, and their entire rotation together for the remainder of the season.
Here are the takeaways from Ujiri's media availability:
Why didn't you make a big trade?
“The opportunity was not there for us for a blockbuster trade," Ujiri said.
Toronto had plenty of phone calls from interested teams, but it didn't sound like anything got particularly close. Ultimately, it was a typical Ujiri deadline, one characterized by patience and a desire to put off big changes for the summer.
"The way I look at the deadline, it’s really not a great place to make long-term decisions," Ujiri said. "Everything we could have done today maybe we could do in the summer.”
Ujiri has repeatedly emphasized his distaste for mid-season trades and Thursday was no different.
“At the end of the day, in the summer there are 29 losers and one winner. There are 29 teams looking to do more," he said.
Why trade for Jakob Poeltl?
For a team with the ninth-worst record in the NBA, buying at the trade deadline seemed rather surprising. Yes, Toronto has had an adequate stretch recently, a 4-3 West Coast road trip and a win over the Spurs on Thursday moved the team into 10th in the Eastern Conference, but this team has always seemed a little closer to the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes than real playoff contenders
"I think it’s something we’ve lacked on our team," Ujiri said of the center position. "To be fair (to) this team, I think I haven’t done my part for this team to maybe play a little bit better. I think we needed a big like Jak, to protect the rim, who these guys have confidence in. A really good passer, a big body, one of our own, which I think really fits.”
It helped to have a familiarity with Poeltl, Ujiri said. The 27-year-old is already in Toronto having played the Raptors on Wednesday night and is expected to play Friday for the Raptors.
Can you keep all your free agents?
Toronto is now set to have VanVleet, Trent, and Poeltl hit free agency this summer with a serious luxury tax crunch on the horizon. Considering the belief coming into the deadline was the Raptors would have to move off at least one significant contract to keep the core together, adding Poeltl on an expiring deal was the exact opposite of what Toronto was expected to do.
"We are always focused on trying to retain our players," said Ujiri who will likely have to shell out almost $70 million per season to retain the three players pending free agents. "That’s always the focus for us and we’ll be focused on that with these guys and see how we perform the rest of the season and make that assessment."
Why do you have faith in this group?
Last year expedited Toronto's timeline a little too much, Ujiri admitted. The team was ahead of schedule, jumping from a lottery team in 2021 to a playoff team in 2022. This year, though, the team has taken a step back, but, as Ujiri said, development is rarely linear.
"We’ve had a really bumpy road. That’s what you expect sometimes with a young team," Ujiri added. "I think players have made progress individually. As a team, it’s been up and down. We had a really rough stretch. But I believe in these guys. We believe in them. We think growth sometimes takes a while. There’s a level of impatience now with how we think about things and do things. Hopefully, we can have a little bit of patience."
What has caused problems for this team so far?
Ujiri repeatedly mentioned "selfishness" being an issue for the Raptors this season, one he hoped Poeltl will help address as a skilled passing big man. It's worth noting, though, that part of that selfishness probably stems from so many players looking for new contracts and Poeltl joining the team isn't going to help that equation.
"I think we have a lot of young players when you think of our time in general. So, that’s one," Ujiri said addressing some of the team's lack of focus. "Honestly, if there was a way to pinpoint, players started slow. I’m not going to use injuries and those things to make excuses because every team goes through them. But every team is affected in different ways and this was the first time I’ve seen our team really affected with so many things all at the same time. Hopefully there’s a different focus now on how we finish the season."
Can patience be harmful?
Ujiri has always preached patience with this organization, but it's fair to wonder if too much patience can be an issue.
"Just naturally, patience is our thing," Ujiri said. "We have to get it where the balance is right and hopefully we don’t extend it out too long if we’re not seeing that development on our team but at the end of the season, we’ll address a lot of these things."
Extra Notes
- Ujiri said he thinks head coach Nick Nurse has done a "great job" this season. Time will tell if that is indeed the case as Nurse heads into a pivotal summer with just one more year left on his contract.
- The Raptors currently rank 28th in the NBA in three-point shooting and that isn't good enough for Ujiri. "I think we need to be one of those top tier 3 point shooting teams," he said. "But we’ll get there. Whether it's by addition or these guys getting better."
- All the rumblings heading up to the deadline suggested the Durant situation was holding up the market but Ujiri said he didn't notice that. "All I know is two incredible players went to the west coast," he said. "There is no way that doesn’t bode well for teams in the East."
Further Reading
O.G. Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, & Gary Trent Jr. stay put with Raptors
Raptors head into trade deadline with victory over Spurs as Jakob Poeltl rumors swirl
