Grange: Raps don't have permission to speak with Ujiri yet

Double Helix · Post #1 » by **Double Helix** » Tue May 21, 2013 10:55 am

@michaelgrange: Just filed on Raptors: Colanglelo to be resolved Tuesday; Denver yet to give permission to Raps to talk to Masai Ujiri.

J-Roc · Post #2 » by **J-Roc** » Tue May 21, 2013 11:02 am

Ahh yes, so the media people at MLSE were just using Masai's name yesterday to get fans excited. Might as well just cross him off the list.

Double Helix · Post #3 » by **Double Helix** » Tue May 21, 2013 11:02 am

There's more in his piece, which I've since noticed was posted in another thread but here it is for anybody who missed it.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/ ... -ujiri-in/

Double Helix · Post #4 » by **Double Helix** » Tue May 21, 2013 11:05 am

J-Roc wrote:Ahh yes, so the media people at MLSE were just using Masai's name yesterday to get fans excited. Might as well just cross him off the list.

In the piece linked to above Grange states permission could come as early as tomorrow and that we only asked for permission over the weekend.

lucky777s · Post #5 » by **lucky777s** » Tue May 21, 2013 11:12 am

from the article:

“We’re not going to throw Bryan out as a resource on opinions on basketball on knowledge, on experience,” said one source close to the MLSE board.

If this is true you can rule out any top GM candidate. BC will still have the ear of the board on basketball matters? Just ridiculous. Insane.

Double Helix · Post #6 » by **Double Helix** » Tue May 21, 2013 11:14 am

lucky777s wrote:from the article:
“We’re not going to throw Bryan out as a resource on opinions on basketball on knowledge, on experience,” said one source close to the MLSE board.

If this is true you can rule out any top GM candidate. BC will still have the ear of the board on basketball matters? Just ridiculous. Insane.

It's Game of Thrones. Littlefinger always finds a way to influence and has eyes and ears everywhere.

nahom1319 · Post #7 » by **nahom1319** » Tue May 21, 2013 11:29 am

Double Helix wrote:
lucky777s wrote:from the article:
“We’re not going to throw Bryan out as a resource on opinions on basketball on knowledge, on experience,” said one source close to the MLSE board.

If this is true you can rule out any top GM candidate. BC will still have the ear of the board on basketball matters? Just ridiculous. Insane.

It's Game of Thrones. Littlefinger always finds a way to influence and has eyes and ears everywhere.

gerrit4 · Post #8 » by **gerrit4** » Tue May 21, 2013 11:46 am

I love what Ujiri did in Denver. He's obviously got a great basketball mind and built a team with solid talent and reasonable salaries.

My concern is that I think this organization needs to be re-worked, we have an issue with our scouting (both for draft and especially free agents), our policies on draft picks and young players, and the moves that would look bad on BC (trading bargs for scraps). I'm concerned that bringing in one of BC's' old guys would just mean more of the same.

More than anything, I'd love to see what a new front office would do with this team. I actually like our starting 5, and I like Ross & Acey. Do the pieces fit? I don't think so, and I don't think that they're getting the best out of each other (lack of spacing causes turnovers, bad shots etc). I don't really know a good solution, that's why I'd love to see what a new GM could do. Maybe it's a new point guard, or a more offensive minded coach. I'd love to see what Stan Van Gundy could do with this team.

What would a new GM do with Bargs? My guess is amnesty, or trade. The highest upside is still to hold onto him and hope he turns into an amazing 6th man (which is what I always thought he could be), though he was a pretty crap 6th man last year.

If there's one thing we've learned being Raptor fans, it's that cap space is not that valuable. It's why I'm still in support of the Rudy Gay trade (Rudy at 20 million is still better than anything we've gotten in free agency, I'll take Rudy Gay over Hedo, Kapono & Fields any day), and why I'm against trading Derozan (unless it's for a good player).

One thing I really like is when a team can win ugly, and boy did this team win some scrappy games this year. Rudy & Lowry are two of the best guys we've had at forcing turnovers in recent memory. Defensively, the team is pretty good. I think Valanciunas will really improve his D next year, and he was arguably our biggest liability.

Offensively, in spite of having some pretty good scorers, this team could not create easy shots, and putting the ball in Rudy's hands caused a lot of ugly turnovers.

It's a much better team than we often give BC credit for, but it also exposed his lack of a long term plan, or poor cap management.