POLL: Masai Ujiri Approval Rating - Mid-Season Poll

jonas_franchise · Post #21 » by **jonas_franchise** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:20 pm

Approve.

I trust this guy completely. It seems people are hating on him for the lack of moves he's made and forget that he hasn't made a bad move yet. All his moves have benefited this franchise both long term and short term. Until he makes an utterly horribly move I'm on his side.

Will he make a big splashy move this year? Who knows. Maybe the opportunity hasn't come for him yet? But I'm confident this franchise is in good hands.

I'm excited to see who he drafts this year with our 1st round pick and Sac's 2nd rounder. I think that's where he'll truly shine.

dkb33 · Post #22 » by **dkb33** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:25 pm

Approve.

There are way too many terrible teams in the NBA this year for the Raptors to have done a proper tank unless they traded their assets for pennies on the dollar. How people don't realize this I have no idea. Bargnani and Gay are gone and he was able to get some draft picks in return as well as a couple of young players in Patterson and Vasquez. He can't flip an entire roster in 7 months people. Patience is needed here.

Scase · Post #23 » by **Scase** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:25 pm

jonas_franchise wrote:Approve.

I trust this guy completely. It seems people are hating on him for the lack of moves he's made and forget that he hasn't made a bad move yet. All his moves have benefited this franchise both long term and short term. Until he makes an utterly horribly move I'm on his side.

Will he make a big splashy move this year? Who knows. Maybe the opportunity hasn't come for him yet? But I'm confident this franchise is in good hands.

I'm excited to see who he drafts this year with our 1st round pick and Sac's 2nd rounder. I think that's where he'll truly shine.

To me it's not the lack or moves but the lack of progress.

We are still saddled with a .500 (at best) team leaving us in essentially the same spot as the last decade or so. What I expected was something slightly more tangible, either do something to considerably worsen the team and reach for a top pick or make some moves to significantly better the team. Neither of those have happened.

KL78192020 · Post #24 » by **KL78192020** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:29 pm

Masai has failed himself. He clearly stated at the start of the year we would not be in no mans land, and that is exactly where we are. Brooklyn is going to pass us soon enough, and we'll end up 8th.

LieCheatSteal · Post #25 » by **LieCheatSteal** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:31 pm

It sucks that his tanking trade (Gay to the Kings) actually made the team better. I like the Raptors but so far, they are neither here (playoffs) nor there (no playoffs). That's not something Masai himself said he wanted the team to be at. He needs to make a decision with this team about what direction they want to be in. That's why I think I don't really approve not disapprove.

Post #26 » by **Schad** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:32 pm

I said before this season that I would disapprove if we reached the season without a clear direction in place. I have selected disapprove since. With the team now trending in the middle, with no coherent vision save "we're going to try to add to what we have...at some point", I'm in the strongly disapprove category. I like Masai. I hope he turns this around. But if this were any other GM, I'd be calling for their head on a plate.

Idontknowurlife · Post #27 » by **Idontknowurlife** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:34 pm

strongly approve when he trades Lowry. Better late than never.

Post #28 » by **Schad** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:37 pm

hankscorpioLA wrote:Derozan: $9.5 million
Lowry: $10 million
Patterson: $6 million
Novak: $3.75
Jonas: $4.6
Ross: $3.6
Draft pick 1: $1.25 million
Draft pick 2: $1.25 million

Total: $39.95 million

With a salary cap expected to be about $60 million, that means the Raptors will have 8 players under contract AND enough space to sign an elite player. Derozan will be 26. Ross will be 24. Jonas will be 23.

Of course...this would require not bringing Amir Johnson back...but I think we can overcome that.

So, you're trying to edge people into approving based on the fact that, if we do nothing for the next couple years, we'll have cap space? While that's absolutely true, simply waiting out contracts and hanging on to the players that Colangelo left us with isn't exactly evidence of a managerial masterstroke.

dkb33 · Post #29 » by **dkb33** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:40 pm

Schadenfreude wrote:I said before this season that I would disapprove if we reached the season without a clear direction in place. I have selected disapprove since. With the team now trending in the middle, with no coherent vision save "we're going to try to add to what we have...at some point", I'm in the strongly disapprove category. I like Masai. I hope he turns this around. But if this were any other GM, I'd be calling for their head on a plate.

What is he supose to do though? He traded away Bargnani & Gay which gives the team cap space going forward but the deals for the assests on the team have not been good enough yet to pull the trigger. This whole backwards thinking of trading away assets for garbage for some ping pong balls in the hopes of landing a star player may work in NBA2k but when have you seen a team completly trade away its good players for lottery balls? This team may be a .500 team now but it is very young and will improve over time. If this team was full of vets then I could see why everyone would be upset. It isn't.

Post #30 » by **Schad** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:43 pm

dkb33 wrote: What is he supose to do though? He traded away Bargnani & Gay which gives the team cap space going forward but the deals for the assests on the team have not been good enough yet to pull the trigger. This whole backwards thinking of trading away assets for garbage for some ping pong balls in the hopes of landing a star player may work in NBA2k but when have you seen a team completly trade away its good players for lottery balls? This team may be a .500 team now but it is very young and will improve over time. If this team was full of vets then I could see why everyone would be upset. It isn't.

"This team is young and will improve over time" is the mantra that was repeated through the entirety of the Colangelo era. Time + Young =/= Great in most instances.

WatermelonMan · Post #31 » by **WatermelonMan** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:45 pm

Approve so far. Although id like to see moves made faster I understand I am impatient and other nba gm's have to agree to a trade. The current team is a joy to watch compared to the Gay era, so all aces in my book. But I really hope Masai doesn't fall in love with everything he has now and looks to make some more moves at the deadline. I also hope for some big FA signings this summer, get it done Drake. I think this poll will have more relevance come next November when the new season has started, by then we will know exactly what Ujiri's direction is.

Mr.Raptorsingh · Post #32 » by **Mr.Raptorsingh** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:50 pm

Schadenfreude wrote:
dkb33 wrote: What is he supose to do though? He traded away Bargnani & Gay which gives the team cap space going forward but the deals for the assests on the team have not been good enough yet to pull the trigger. This whole backwards thinking of trading away assets for garbage for some ping pong balls in the hopes of landing a star player may work in NBA2k but when have you seen a team completly trade away its good players for lottery balls? This team may be a .500 team now but it is very young and will improve over time. If this team was full of vets then I could see why everyone would be upset. It isn't.

"This team is young and will improve over time" is the mantra that was repeated through the entirety of the Colangelo era. Time + Young =/= Great in most instances.

Yeah, enough of organic growth. For example, unless DeMar totally re-works his jumper, dude is always going to be a 2nd/3rd option who is being miscast right now as a 1st option. There is no "growing" to be witnessed there. We need a 1, or a couple of great 2s. So, Masai has to figure out how to get said guys either by drafting a steal of a pick with a late-lotto, mid-first, or trading for one.

We'd have to finish 6-36 to get back into tank relevancy. I don't know how likely that is.

dkb33 · Post #33 » by **dkb33** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:52 pm

Schadenfreude wrote:
dkb33 wrote: What is he supose to do though? He traded away Bargnani & Gay which gives the team cap space going forward but the deals for the assests on the team have not been good enough yet to pull the trigger. This whole backwards thinking of trading away assets for garbage for some ping pong balls in the hopes of landing a star player may work in NBA2k but when have you seen a team completly trade away its good players for lottery balls? This team may be a .500 team now but it is very young and will improve over time. If this team was full of vets then I could see why everyone would be upset. It isn't.

"This team is young and will improve over time" is the mantra that was repeated through the entirety of the Colangelo era. Time + Young =/= Great in most instances.

Jonas Valančiūnas (21)

Terrence Ross (22)

DeMar DeRozan (24)

Patrick Patterson (24)

Amir Johnson (26)

Kyle Lowry (27)

Greivis Vásquez (27)

Tyler Hansbough (28)

John Salmons (34)

I can not think of a Colangelo team that had this much youth on it.

Post #34 » by **JYD** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:57 pm

Disapprove. Management talked up building a team the right way by being patient, implying we need to hit the lotto and that we were substantial talent away from contending. MU and TL also strongly implied that being a middling team/just making the playoffs is not ideal. Also said this team will not be in the middle.

And fans were absolutely on board with it.

Now, management is going against everything they talked about, showing weakness in their committal to a direction.

Some will posit there are different ways to achieve the same goal in the NBA. I will posit while this is true, the non-lottery way of putting stars on a team lacking them, is a very low-percentage play.

For 7 years BC lacked patience and any kind of direction, what is different about what we're seeing now? Maybe a GM who won't hand out crippling contracts? A GM who won't 'lose' a trade?

These are both traits I think everyone wants in a GM, but neither of them get you a star. I don't care about Drake either, no star is coming here as a FA before we're ready to contend. And we will not be ready to contend until we add some serious talent first.

How are we supposed to add serious talent without ripping a team off in a trade, or swiping someone with a late draft pick? This is what we've been reduced to hoping for now.

MU should be given no benefit of the doubt here. He has to prove he can get something done to propel this team forward. So far all he's done is dump 2 bad contracts.

I don't think he's incapable, but for me, a GM has to prove themselves, or at least instill confidence they've got a good plan before I support them. Right now, there's nothing.

Post #35 » by **Schad** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:08 am

Mr.Raptorsingh wrote:Yeah, enough of organic growth. For example, unless DeMar totally re-works his jumper, dude is always going to be a 2nd/3rd option who is being miscast right now as a 1st option. There is no "growing" to be witnessed there. We need a 1, or a couple of great 2s. So, Masai has to figure out how to get said guys either by drafting a steal of a pick with a late-lotto, mid-first, or trading for one.

We'd have to finish 6-36 to get back into tank relevancy. I don't know how likely that is.

It's too late to tank...that's part of the reason I'm now strongly disapproving. We're stuck where we're stuck, at least for this season.

Post #36 » by **Schad** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:10 am

dkb33 wrote: I can not think of a Colangelo team that had this much youth on it.

'07/'08: Chris Bosh (23), Andrea Bargnani (22), TJ Ford (24), Jose Calderon (26), Carlos Delfino (25), Kris Humphries (22), Joey Graham (25), Jamario Moon (27), Jason Kapono (26).

dTox · Post #37 » by **dTox** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:19 am

One thing i'd like to add about this "he got rid of two bad contracts, so he gets a free pass" argument, keep in mind Colangelo managed to unload Hedo, The Brazillian stallion, Fred Jones while he was here without taking back equally horrific value, it's not some sort of unique talent that only few can manage, even horrible GMs can get rid of bad contracts, its what happens after that counts. Like BC, Masai has also botched some free agent signings with Denver (and maybe not to the extremes of Colangelo)
-McGee 4 yrs 44 mill
-Nene 67 mill

Mind you the encouraging part is that there aren't many examples of this to draw from, but let's not pretend like hes about to pull a Houdini with that capspace we have moving forward. So getting rid of the bad contract itself shouldn't justify him from wasting an entire season, it's only enough to distinguish him from "strongly disapprove" to "disapprove". And he certainly hasn't earned the right to earn some sort of blind faith from anyone here, he hasn't proven enough in this league to do so.

Raps in 4 · Post #38 » by **Raps in 4** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:20 am

Disprove.

I knew the season would play out the way it is has even before it started which is why I was such a strong proponent of the tank. It was obvious from a mile away that this team could not compete for anything meaningful. But Masai obviously thought otherwise. He has been far too complacent, which you don't want from a GM. Whereas BC was rash and had a quick trigger finger, Masai is too indecisive, which causes him to miss out on opportunities. At the end of the day, all he's done is waste a year of HIS contract.

Badatude · Post #39 » by **Badatude** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:22 am

Approve.. Didn't expect to get the return we did for Gay.
Our guys will get some play off experience and the Fields contract is the only real eye sore to me.
I dont feel like we are really stuck with any player on the team. Every one is pretty much trade able (ok, Fields).

dkb33 · Post #40 » by **dkb33** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:23 am

Schadenfreude wrote:
dkb33 wrote: I can not think of a Colangelo team that had this much youth on it.

'07/'08: Chris Bosh (23), Andrea Bargnani (22), TJ Ford (24), Jose Calderon (26), Carlos Delfino (25), Kris Humphries (22), Joey Graham (25), Jamario Moon (27), Jason Kapono (26).

Raptors starting 5 this year:

PG - Lowry

SG - DeRozan

SF - Ross

PF - Johnson

C - Valančiūnas

07/08

PG - Calderon

SG - Parker

SF - Garbajosa

PF - Bosh

C - Bargnani

Much more youth with core members on this team.