Shams: Bobby Promoted to "Final Decision Maker of Basketball (still GM) " update pg. 27

[Raps Next GM]

Dude, that's not how the Toronto Raptors or MLSE do business. Take off the tinfoil.....

Thats how Roger's does business.

Give it a few months and you'll see the outcome.

You didn't even know who Pelley was until that press conference. He's a guy with expertise in television/communications and the sports business. He's not going to be involved with the operations of each sports team.

I'm sorry Rogers screwed up your phone bill, but they have been involved with MLSE for more than a decade and have spent handily on the Blue Jays for 25 years, and have been pretty hands-off other than approving $500mil contracts and stadium renovations.

You have decades of case studies on how Rogers operates its sports teams.

This whole thing against Ed Rogers on this board is wild. He's an a-hole, I get it, but he is not a meddling owner. That's not how the companies are structured. Masai is an a-hole too by some accounts.

Tinfoil.....

Agree completely that fans and many posters here are way too quick to jump on wild assumptions about Rogers’ ownership, that really there is no evidence to support these theories.

Forget Rogers’ involvement with the Raptors these past few years. The Blue Jays are a better snapshot of what to expect:
• The Jays have been mostly disappointing, but ownership has not meddled, they have not been cheap, they have been loyal, they went after a highly regarded and expensive leader in Mark Shapiro. It’s easy to say now with hindsight that Shapiro has mostly failed for on-field success, but this wasn’t some nobody, he was considered a top exec that the Jays poached from Cleveland. High payroll, aggressive pursuit of Ohtani and the big investment in Vlad.
• Team success is much better for Rogers. Forget this silly narrative about just wanting playoff dates. Even if you believe that, logic would tell you more playoff dates = more money. Why on Earth would they be content with one round of playoffs? It makes no sense.
Team success leads to more attention which leads to more phone/service sales and investors in Rogers corporation; more eyeballs on the teams’ broadcasts; more advertising dollars for Sportsnet media… the commitment to winning makes more sense for Rogers than it would for just about any ownership in Canada. It’s why they dish out so much on the Jays’ payroll despite the weak dollar. Team success = corporate success for Rogers.
• Keith Pelley is one of the top executives in Canada, especially in the media and sports landscapes. If they simply wanted a Yes Man, they could have saved a lot of money rather than going after Pelley.
Time will tell if this decision was right or wrong, but the conspiracy theories about why this happened are silly.
• We don’t know Masai’s contract demands but he would have (rightfully) demanded the moon, possibly even an ownership stake. So it may simply have come down to the Raptors deciding that Masai is not worth what he was asking for. In 2021, it would be easy to hand him a blank cheque, but 2022 onward has been every bit as disappointing as the Blue Jays have been.

[nestea]

They go with Bobby probably due to paying him less than the other candidates in question. If thats the route they chose.

[Raps in 4]

Dude, that's not how the Toronto Raptors or MLSE do business. Take off the tinfoil.....

Thats how Roger's does business.

Give it a few months and you'll see the outcome.

You didn't even know who Pelley was until that press conference. He's a guy with expertise in television/communications and the sports business. He's not going to be involved with the operations of each sports team.

I'm sorry Rogers screwed up your phone bill, but they have been involved with MLSE for more than a decade and have spent handily on the Blue Jays for 25 years, and have been pretty hands-off other than approving $500mil contracts and stadium renovations.

You have decades of case studies on how Rogers operates its sports teams.

This whole thing against Ed Rogers on this board is wild. He's an a-hole, I get it, but he is not a meddling owner. That's not how the companies are structured. Masai is an a-hole too by some accounts.

Tinfoil.....

Found the Keith Pelley burner account.

[Tom_Foolery]

Bye Bobby.

It would be a horrible move for the raptors.

[anotherhomer]

Thats how Roger's does business.

Give it a few months and you'll see the outcome.

You didn't even know who Pelley was until that press conference. He's a guy with expertise in television/communications and the sports business. He's not going to be involved with the operations of each sports team.

I'm sorry Rogers screwed up your phone bill, but they have been involved with MLSE for more than a decade and have spent handily on the Blue Jays for 25 years, and have been pretty hands-off other than approving $500mil contracts and stadium renovations.

You have decades of case studies on how Rogers operates its sports teams.

This whole thing against Ed Rogers on this board is wild. He's an a-hole, I get it, but he is not a meddling owner. That's not how the companies are structured. Masai is an a-hole too by some accounts.

Tinfoil.....

Found the Keith Pelley burner account.

i don't think so......He's defended Ujiri at times

[TGM]

Thats how Roger's does business.

Give it a few months and you'll see the outcome.

You didn't even know who Pelley was until that press conference. He's a guy with expertise in television/communications and the sports business. He's not going to be involved with the operations of each sports team.

I'm sorry Rogers screwed up your phone bill, but they have been involved with MLSE for more than a decade and have spent handily on the Blue Jays for 25 years, and have been pretty hands-off other than approving $500mil contracts and stadium renovations.

You have decades of case studies on how Rogers operates its sports teams.

This whole thing against Ed Rogers on this board is wild. He's an a-hole, I get it, but he is not a meddling owner. That's not how the companies are structured. Masai is an a-hole too by some accounts.

Tinfoil.....

Agree completely that fans and many posters here are way too quick to jump on wild assumptions about Rogers’ ownership, that really there is no evidence to support these theories.

Forget Rogers’ involvement with the Raptors these past few years. The Blue Jays are a better snapshot of what to expect:
• The Jays have been mostly disappointing, but ownership has not meddled, they have not been cheap, they have been loyal, they went after a highly regarded and expensive leader in Mark Shapiro. It’s easy to say now with hindsight that Shapiro has mostly failed for on-field success, but this wasn’t some nobody, he was considered a top exec that the Jays poached from Cleveland. High payroll, aggressive pursuit of Ohtani and the big investment in Vlad.
• Team success is much better for Rogers. Forget this silly narrative about just wanting playoff dates. Even if you believe that, logic would tell you more playoff dates = more money. Why on Earth would they be content with one round of playoffs? It makes no sense.
Team success leads to more attention which leads to more phone/service sales and investors in Rogers corporation; more eyeballs on the teams’ broadcasts; more advertising dollars for Sportsnet media… the commitment to winning makes more sense for Rogers than it would for just about any ownership in Canada. It’s why they dish out so much on the Jays’ payroll despite the weak dollar. Team success = corporate success for Rogers.
• Keith Pelley is one of the top executives in Canada, especially in the media and sports landscapes. If they simply wanted a Yes Man, they could have saved a lot of money rather than going after Pelley.
Time will tell if this decision was right or wrong, but the conspiracy theories about why this happened are silly.
• We don’t know Masai’s contract demands but he would have (rightfully) demanded the moon, possibly even an ownership stake. So it may simply have come down to the Raptors deciding that Masai is not worth what he was asking for. In 2021, it would be easy to hand him a blank cheque, but 2022 onward has been every bit as disappointing as the Blue Jays have been.

For the record I did not say Roger’s is not willing to spend. But I do highly question the management he has replaced and put in over the years. Also Roger’s was not majority owner of MLSE till recently and yes he has been owner of the Jays for some time.

My dislike towards Roger’s comes from decisions like getting rid of Alex Anthoupoulos arguably one of the best GMs of baseball. He was amazing with the Jays and now look what he has done with the Braves. Roger’s replaces the man with Atkins and Shapiro who are just old school Corporate Baseball executives. That is such a typical Corporate decision, instead of interviewing people for the right candidate you hire the guy with the resume that you can justify to your board. Find guys that have resumes and cover your arse in case it backfires. If you look at some of the best executives in sports it’s not the old school boys club group anymore, but the Roger’s family still thinks that way.

My comment earlier above wasn’t talking about Roger meddling with the sports day to day, but more so the lack of appreciation. What I’m saying is that I would prefer an owner who is passionate about the sports he owns as to just someone thinking strictly business. Pelley I’m not saying is trash, I’m saying he is brought in as a Corporate executive and he will run this business no different from another industry he is managing. He has ties to Roger’s and he no differently will hire someone in his inner circle. Webster might or might not be the best candidate, but he is pretty much outside looking in. This is why we will never bring in guys like Masai or Leon Rose again under their ownership cause they aren’t part of that Corporate boys club.

[OAKLEY_2]

They go with Bobby probably due to paying him less than the other candidates in question. If thats the route they chose.

“We’re hiring a president,” said MLSE President and CEO Keith Pelley following the dismissal of Masai Ujiri on Friday. “We’re not hiring a president and a general manager. We will have a general manager. So the president… we’re looking for an experienced, prominent, strong, successful personality.”

That means either Bobby or Dan are the likely referenced "we will (already) have" a GM and... if Dan becomes GM then Bobby is President. Bobby is experienced, very true, prominent, true, strong (I guess...who makes that judgement call?) and jeez if he isn't a "successful personality" how did he survive this long? What he really means is somebody easily recognized in the field with charismatic persona. Or, strong personality who speaks their mind. Bobby seems like the fixer and prognosticator who saves Mr. or Ms. Personality from their worst inclinations. All cards held tightly to the vest. A sober quiet leadership candidate.

I can easily see Bobby promoted. I could also see a former player who is book smart like a Harrison Barnes type or, if Rogers was actually doing their best work they'd also have a Euro agency looking at Euro talent but maybe that stateside agency has those resumes. Whoever makes Pelly the most invisible will have been the right candidate. This new CEO of MLSE is no Tim Liewicke.

[mihaic]

Thats how Roger's does business.

Give it a few months and you'll see the outcome.

You didn't even know who Pelley was until that press conference. He's a guy with expertise in television/communications and the sports business. He's not going to be involved with the operations of each sports team.

I'm sorry Rogers screwed up your phone bill, but they have been involved with MLSE for more than a decade and have spent handily on the Blue Jays for 25 years, and have been pretty hands-off other than approving $500mil contracts and stadium renovations.

You have decades of case studies on how Rogers operates its sports teams.

This whole thing against Ed Rogers on this board is wild. He's an a-hole, I get it, but he is not a meddling owner. That's not how the companies are structured. Masai is an a-hole too by some accounts.

Tinfoil.....

Found the Keith Pelley burner account.

I really doubt Pelley would ever post here at all.

Also if you want to counter the guy, this is not a smart way to go at it. There are some good pointsnts he makes, but some you could counter

[WuTang_CMB]

Watch on YouTube

;ab_channel=TSN

[Scase]

Thats how Roger's does business.

Give it a few months and you'll see the outcome.

You didn't even know who Pelley was until that press conference. He's a guy with expertise in television/communications and the sports business. He's not going to be involved with the operations of each sports team.

I'm sorry Rogers screwed up your phone bill, but they have been involved with MLSE for more than a decade and have spent handily on the Blue Jays for 25 years, and have been pretty hands-off other than approving $500mil contracts and stadium renovations.

You have decades of case studies on how Rogers operates its sports teams.

This whole thing against Ed Rogers on this board is wild. He's an a-hole, I get it, but he is not a meddling owner. That's not how the companies are structured. Masai is an a-hole too by some accounts.

Tinfoil.....

How do you speak so confidently on things you don't know?

What we do know:
1. MLSE as we knew it was run by Larry T. Larry liked to lead by consensus, however was more in tune with Bell than with Rogers. And we have a verified account of him going against Ed Rogers and Ed Rogers running to Adam Silver about it, only for Silver to take Larry's side.
2. This is no longer the same MLSE that we knew and Rogers is now running the show
3. Pelley is a Rogers executive with a mixed public record: folks are divided on him as CEO of the DP World Tour and he negotiated the disastrous NHL TV contract
4. Edward Rogers has prioritized yes men and loyalists over rising stars throughout his career as he's fought for control of Rogers
5. Edward Rogers did not like Masai

These are the facts.

I never followed the whole Larry T/Bell/rogers thing, why did Bell sell their shares to Rogers? Did they just want the ROI, or was there something in the original contract that they had to?

[Raps Next GM]

You didn't even know who Pelley was until that press conference. He's a guy with expertise in television/communications and the sports business. He's not going to be involved with the operations of each sports team.

I'm sorry Rogers screwed up your phone bill, but they have been involved with MLSE for more than a decade and have spent handily on the Blue Jays for 25 years, and have been pretty hands-off other than approving $500mil contracts and stadium renovations.

You have decades of case studies on how Rogers operates its sports teams.

This whole thing against Ed Rogers on this board is wild. He's an a-hole, I get it, but he is not a meddling owner. That's not how the companies are structured. Masai is an a-hole too by some accounts.

Tinfoil.....

Agree completely that fans and many posters here are way too quick to jump on wild assumptions about Rogers’ ownership, that really there is no evidence to support these theories.

Forget Rogers’ involvement with the Raptors these past few years. The Blue Jays are a better snapshot of what to expect:
• The Jays have been mostly disappointing, but ownership has not meddled, they have not been cheap, they have been loyal, they went after a highly regarded and expensive leader in Mark Shapiro. It’s easy to say now with hindsight that Shapiro has mostly failed for on-field success, but this wasn’t some nobody, he was considered a top exec that the Jays poached from Cleveland. High payroll, aggressive pursuit of Ohtani and the big investment in Vlad.
• Team success is much better for Rogers. Forget this silly narrative about just wanting playoff dates. Even if you believe that, logic would tell you more playoff dates = more money. Why on Earth would they be content with one round of playoffs? It makes no sense.
Team success leads to more attention which leads to more phone/service sales and investors in Rogers corporation; more eyeballs on the teams’ broadcasts; more advertising dollars for Sportsnet media… the commitment to winning makes more sense for Rogers than it would for just about any ownership in Canada. It’s why they dish out so much on the Jays’ payroll despite the weak dollar. Team success = corporate success for Rogers.
• Keith Pelley is one of the top executives in Canada, especially in the media and sports landscapes. If they simply wanted a Yes Man, they could have saved a lot of money rather than going after Pelley.
Time will tell if this decision was right or wrong, but the conspiracy theories about why this happened are silly.
• We don’t know Masai’s contract demands but he would have (rightfully) demanded the moon, possibly even an ownership stake. So it may simply have come down to the Raptors deciding that Masai is not worth what he was asking for. In 2021, it would be easy to hand him a blank cheque, but 2022 onward has been every bit as disappointing as the Blue Jays have been.

For the record I did not say Roger’s is not willing to spend. But I do highly question the management he has replaced and put in over the years. Also Roger’s was not majority owner of MLSE till recently and yes he has been owner of the Jays for some time.

My dislike towards Roger’s comes from decisions like getting rid of Alex Anthoupoulos arguably one of the best GMs of baseball. He was amazing with the Jays and now look what he has done with the Braves. Roger’s replaces the man with Atkins and Shapiro who are just old school Corporate Baseball executives. That is such a typical Corporate decision, instead of interviewing people for the right candidate you hire the guy with the resume that you can justify to your board. Find guys that have resumes and cover your arse in case it backfires. If you look at some of the best executives in sports it’s not the old school boys club group anymore, but the Roger’s family still thinks that way.

My comment earlier above wasn’t talking about Roger meddling with the sports day to day, but more so the lack of appreciation. What I’m saying is that I would prefer an owner who is passionate about the sports he owns as to just someone thinking strictly business. Pelley I’m not saying is trash, I’m saying he is brought in as a Corporate executive and he will run this business no different from another industry he is managing. He has ties to Roger’s and he no differently will hire someone in his inner circle. Webster might or might not be the best candidate, but he is pretty much outside looking in. This is why we will never bring in guys like Masai or Leon Rose again under their ownership cause they aren’t part of that Corporate boys club.

I don’t necessarily disagree, and to be clear I wasn’t directing my thoughts at you, it was more in general from a lot of posts that imply Rogers is an insecure, meddling owner who impulsively fires people for personal vendettas and that the Raptors are doomed with his ownership and Pelley’s direction.

The evidence of the way the Blue Jays have been run contradict these theories.

I would also add that I think people are looking at Anthopoulous a little more fondly with the benefit of hindsight than they were at the time of his leaving the team (he wasn’t fired, but was not happy with the new direction.) He was trading away a lot of top prospects and it led to some post season success, but no championship appearances.
He is a much better GM with Atlanta than he was with the Jays, in no small part due to joining the Dodgers as an assistant and working under the best GM in the sport, Andrew Freeman.

[Yeezus_]

You didn't even know who Pelley was until that press conference. He's a guy with expertise in television/communications and the sports business. He's not going to be involved with the operations of each sports team.

I'm sorry Rogers screwed up your phone bill, but they have been involved with MLSE for more than a decade and have spent handily on the Blue Jays for 25 years, and have been pretty hands-off other than approving $500mil contracts and stadium renovations.

You have decades of case studies on how Rogers operates its sports teams.

This whole thing against Ed Rogers on this board is wild. He's an a-hole, I get it, but he is not a meddling owner. That's not how the companies are structured. Masai is an a-hole too by some accounts.

Tinfoil.....

How do you speak so confidently on things you don't know?

What we do know:
1. MLSE as we knew it was run by Larry T. Larry liked to lead by consensus, however was more in tune with Bell than with Rogers. And we have a verified account of him going against Ed Rogers and Ed Rogers running to Adam Silver about it, only for Silver to take Larry's side.
2. This is no longer the same MLSE that we knew and Rogers is now running the show
3. Pelley is a Rogers executive with a mixed public record: folks are divided on him as CEO of the DP World Tour and he negotiated the disastrous NHL TV contract
4. Edward Rogers has prioritized yes men and loyalists over rising stars throughout his career as he's fought for control of Rogers
5. Edward Rogers did not like Masai

These are the facts.

I never followed the whole Larry T/Bell/rogers thing, why did Bell sell their shares to Rogers? Did they just want the ROI, or was there something in the original contract that they had to?

They wanted to sell for debt reduction and financial flexibility according to Mirko. They wanted to be a larger player in the tech space so we’ll see what they do down the road.

[TGM]

You didn't even know who Pelley was until that press conference. He's a guy with expertise in television/communications and the sports business. He's not going to be involved with the operations of each sports team.

I'm sorry Rogers screwed up your phone bill, but they have been involved with MLSE for more than a decade and have spent handily on the Blue Jays for 25 years, and have been pretty hands-off other than approving $500mil contracts and stadium renovations.

You have decades of case studies on how Rogers operates its sports teams.

This whole thing against Ed Rogers on this board is wild. He's an a-hole, I get it, but he is not a meddling owner. That's not how the companies are structured. Masai is an a-hole too by some accounts.

Tinfoil.....

Found the Keith Pelley burner account.

I really doubt Pelley would ever post here at all.

Also if you want to counter the guy, this is not a smart way to go at it. There are some good pointsnts he makes, but some you could counter

Read my above responses.

The guy just presumed I hate Roger’s cause of my phone bill. I don’t even live in Toronto and haven’t used Roger’s in like 15 years. Also the point isn’t whether Roger’s is an a-hole or not. It’s the fact that his people selection have not been optimal cause of the business only approach and lack of appreciation for the sports teams he owns. MLSE I have no doubt will make money under Pelley just via a simple math equation, but the point is that L you can still achieve your business and financial objectives while appointing someone that has a better pulse on the culture and sports side of things and arguably can make you even more money, but Roger’s way of people selection will hinder the ability to achieve this outcome. The only Corporate executive we ever had that was a great fit was Tim Leweike! He was not a Roger’s selection.

[SharoneWright]

Textbook example of “failing up”.

[Tacoma]

...Bobby already has a good reputation among agents and league execs. Plus there is no replacing Masai. We all know who he was and what he represented as not only an intelligent architect but a straight shooter - called it like it is. Which is probably why we all loved him...

This statement would be mostly true up to 2020, but definitely not thereafter. His "intelligent architect" didn't architect a team that fit together for the past 5 years with no real architectural direction. As for being a straight shooter? Too many examples of the opposite.

He once claimed he'd never go for play-in, remarking "play-in for what?" and then subsequently aimed for the play-in. He once told DD he wasn't trading him and then traded him, later apologizing to a pissed off DeRozan who said: " “Be told one thing and the outcome another. Can’t trust em."

He was developing such "good reputation among agents" that when Siakam tried to contact him to negotiate his contract, he never returned his agent's calls, essentially ghosted his agent then apologized to Siakam for it, saying: "Pascal deserved that I even gave him the over-communication, which I didn't, and I apologized to him for it." If he was shooting so straight, he wouldn't have to keep apologizing for doing the opposite.

He keeps preaching patience and then proceed to impatiently trade away draft capital for win-now moves. Can go on but there's sufficient evidence to say that for a supposed fast ball pitcher, he's throwing a lot of curve balls and change ups. A straight shooter he's clearly not.

[sbsat]

Rogers has kept the same Jays GM for a decade with close to zero on field success. Explain that especially in the context of firing masai 6 years removed from an actual championship

[WuTang_CMB]

...Bobby already has a good reputation among agents and league execs. Plus there is no replacing Masai. We all know who he was and what he represented as not only an intelligent architect but a straight shooter - called it like it is. Which is probably why we all loved him...

This statement would be mostly true up to 2020, but definitely not thereafter. His "intelligent architect" didn't architect a team that fit together for the past 5 years with no real architectural direction. As for being a straight shooter? Too many examples of the opposite.

He once claimed he'd never go for play-in, remarking "play-in for what?" and then subsequently aimed for the play-in. He once told DD he wasn't trading him and then traded him, later apologizing to a pissed off DeRozan who said: " “Be told one thing and the outcome another. Can’t trust em."

He was developing such "good reputation among agents" that when Siakam tried to contact him to negotiate his contract, he never returned his agent's calls, essentially ghosted his agent then apologized to Siakam for it, saying: "Pascal deserved that I even gave him the over-communication, which I didn't, and I apologized to him for it." If he was shooting so straight, he wouldn't have to keep apologizing for doing the opposite.

He keeps preaching patience and then proceed to impatiently trade away draft capital for win-now moves. Can go on but there's sufficient evidence to say that for a supposed fast ball pitcher, he's throwing a lot of curve balls and change ups. A straight shooter he's clearly not.

There was a misses the last few years but not every GM is perfect. Masai had the recipe and the team was back on the upswing. The core of this team is drafting and developing and we are back to that. Masai is a straight shooter and calls it how it is. My biggest issue was him not tanking in the Wemby draft and moving off of Pascal/OG/Fred sooner - but he pivoted and has been fixing things since.

[pharring]

I'm ok with Bobby getting the job and Tolzman becoming GM.
I'm also ok with a figurehead President coming in with Bobby and Tolzman running the day-to-day. Someone like a Dwayne Casey, Steve Nash or someone else with ties to the league/franchise but accepting that Bobby runs the show. I think the Heat work like this as I doubt Pat Riley is working through spreadsheet projections of AAV and cap space.

[Tacoma]

...Bobby already has a good reputation among agents and league execs. Plus there is no replacing Masai. We all know who he was and what he represented as not only an intelligent architect but a straight shooter - called it like it is. Which is probably why we all loved him...

This statement would be mostly true up to 2020, but definitely not thereafter. His "intelligent architect" didn't architect a team that fit together for the past 5 years with no real architectural direction. As for being a straight shooter? Too many examples of the opposite.

He once claimed he'd never go for play-in, remarking "play-in for what?" and then subsequently aimed for the play-in. He once told DD he wasn't trading him and then traded him, later apologizing to a pissed off DeRozan who said: " “Be told one thing and the outcome another. Can’t trust em."

He was developing such "good reputation among agents" that when Siakam tried to contact him to negotiate his contract, he never returned his agent's calls, essentially ghosted his agent then apologized to Siakam for it, saying: "Pascal deserved that I even gave him the over-communication, which I didn't, and I apologized to him for it." If he was shooting so straight, he wouldn't have to keep apologizing for doing the opposite.

He keeps preaching patience and then proceed to impatiently trade away draft capital for win-now moves. Can go on but there's sufficient evidence to say that for a supposed fast ball pitcher, he's throwing a lot of curve balls and change ups. A straight shooter he's clearly not.

There was a misses the last few years but not every GM is perfect. Masai had the recipe and the team was back on the upswing. The core of this team is drafting and developing and we are back to that. Masai is a straight shooter and calls it how it is. My biggest issue was him not tanking in the Wemby draft and moving off of Pascal/OG/Fred sooner - but he pivoted and has been fixing things since.

Not clear how you can keep insisting that he's a "straight shooter and calls it how it is" when there's ample evidence to the contrary?

With due respect, where has Masai been pivoting exactly? For past 5 years, he's pivoted to Siakam/OG/FVV, then traded Siakam/OG and pivoted to BBQ, then pivoted to Ingram while trying to trade IQ & RJ. With so much pivoting happening, what of the "fixing things" has he done that is now fixed? Our most pressing needs to get fixed: shooting and Center position are still holes.

And the claim "not every GM is perfect" is a straw man because no one is saying that nor making perfection the standard. What I've seen over recent 5 years is less like "fixing" and more like throwing things against the wall to see what sticks. It's almost like reincarnation of the Colangelo days.

[WuTang_CMB]

This statement would be mostly true up to 2020, but definitely not thereafter. His "intelligent architect" didn't architect a team that fit together for the past 5 years with no real architectural direction. As for being a straight shooter? Too many examples of the opposite.

He once claimed he'd never go for play-in, remarking "play-in for what?" and then subsequently aimed for the play-in. He once told DD he wasn't trading him and then traded him, later apologizing to a pissed off DeRozan who said: " “Be told one thing and the outcome another. Can’t trust em."

He was developing such "good reputation among agents" that when Siakam tried to contact him to negotiate his contract, he never returned his agent's calls, essentially ghosted his agent then apologized to Siakam for it, saying: "Pascal deserved that I even gave him the over-communication, which I didn't, and I apologized to him for it." If he was shooting so straight, he wouldn't have to keep apologizing for doing the opposite.

He keeps preaching patience and then proceed to impatiently trade away draft capital for win-now moves. Can go on but there's sufficient evidence to say that for a supposed fast ball pitcher, he's throwing a lot of curve balls and change ups. A straight shooter he's clearly not.

There was a misses the last few years but not every GM is perfect. Masai had the recipe and the team was back on the upswing. The core of this team is drafting and developing and we are back to that. Masai is a straight shooter and calls it how it is. My biggest issue was him not tanking in the Wemby draft and moving off of Pascal/OG/Fred sooner - but he pivoted and has been fixing things since.

Not clear how you can keep insisting that he's a "straight shooter and calls it how it is" when there's ample evidence to the contrary?

With due respect, where has Masai been pivoting exactly? For past 5 years, he's pivoted to Siakam/OG/FVV, then traded Siakam/OG and pivoted to BBQ, then pivoted to Ingram while trying to trade IQ & RJ. With so much pivoting happening, what of the "fixing things" has he done that is now fixed? Our most pressing needs to get fixed: shooting and Center position are still holes.

And the claim "not every GM is perfect" is a straw man because no one is saying that nor making perfection the standard. What I've seen over recent 5 years is less like "fixing" and more like throwing things against the wall to see what sticks. It's almost like reincarnation of the Colangelo days.

There's ample evidence over his tenure that he is. He not only says it, he's executed on it. He's a straight shooter in ever sense. Do you know that he could have just let Kyle and Demar keep flaming out in the playoffs? That would have been the easy thing to do. Instead as the straight shooter he is, he made a gutsy call and took a risk on Kawhi which resulted in the title. It took him 7 seasons to deliver a championship - quite the feat.

Ingram deal was a low cost and adds to the core. Where is your issue with that? That was very good business. Just cuz that didn't fit your narrative? Lol.

Not a straw man argument in any way - that's just reality of sports. Every GM has misses. So did Presti and so has Ainge. The team is on the upswing. You just disagree with where they are.