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BREAKING 🚨 Masai Ujiri out as Raptors Vice Chairman and President | Get Up



BREAKING 🚨 Masai Ujiri out as Raptors Vice Chairman and President | Get Up

wendy let’s start with a windy watch and let’s start in Los Angeles yeah so Luca Donuch has a really big decision whether to extend his contract with the Lakers coming up now he can’t do that for a month until August second but that doesn’t mean the Lakers don’t have to get busy because they’re going to when they go to Luca with that deal which they hope to get him to sign for four years he may take a shorter contract they’re going to want to have shown him what they’ve done to improve this roster specifically to get him a center that’s one of the things he asked for when he got traded there it was one of the things they did in Dallas which really helped supercharge that team the Lakers have got to get to work on that also LeBron James has a decision to make over the weekend he has until Sunday to decide on his contract option it’s $53 million last year in this same position he opted out of his contract offered the Lakers to take a pay cut if they could find a free agent to sign they didn’t this year no such offer has been made and the expectation is that LeBron will opt into this deal and take $53 million and his no trade clause into next season and then obviously we have one more thing which is the Austin Reeves situation he turned down a four-year $90 million contract extension this week that was expected he can sign for more next season when he can become a free agent and probably attract if he has another good year uh Dan a nine figure contract yeah that’s uh good for him uh but in the meantime the Lakers uh nobody made a bigger move than they made during the season when they got Luca Donuch and as Wendy pointed out uh now they’re they got to convince him they’re going to build a championship team around him how do they do that yeah and Rob Pelinka their general manager he was up front certainly at the deadline after the Luca trade when they tried to go acquire Mark Williams and that trade went was rescended and then when they lost in the postseason he said “Well that’s our priority right now here’s what they have to offer in in in free agency in the trade market.” They had the $5.7 million tax mid-level exception what does that get you could get you a player like maybe Luke Cornett you’re the the market of of free agent centers is very shallow al Horford is certainly another name larry Nance Jr um certainly Jackson Hayes who is already there precious Achua Clint Capel those are some of your veterans there mason Plumbley as we said the other thing to focus on is the trademark mhm they have over $60 million in expiring contracts gabe Vincent Ruie Hachamora uh they’ve got a first round pick in 2031 or 32 to go out and make a deal it’s interesting yesterday the Lakers sent out cash in a trade with Chicago that has hardcapped them at the second apron they’ve got the flexibility still to make a deal they’re about $16 million under so they have to prioritize how to make the money work they’re not allowed to take back more money in a trade so if they if they trade a $12 million player they can’t take back $14 million in salary because of the apron rule so we’ll watch what the Lakers do over the next couple weeks here tim Bonmps what do you think the Lakers should be doing over the next couple of weeks here well Bobby just nailed it Graz they have to go get a center they have to also get some shooting on the perimeter they need some more athleticism defensively on the perimeter and look all you got to do is look at how the Western Conference playoffs shook out the Lakers lost in five games in the first round of the Minnesota Timberwolves it was not a incredibly competitive series and the Minnesota Timberwolves went on to make the Western Conference Finals and lost in five games to the Oklahoma City Thunder in what was a not very competitive series so when you look at the gap that the Lakers have to make up to catch up to a team like Oklahoma City the defending champions who should be even better next season with a young roster getting better and more experienced and now going through the the four weeks or the several weeks that it takes to win the four rounds to win a championship the Lakers have a lot of work to do this summer to get to that kind of level obviously with limited assets as Bobby just laid out but the first thing they have to do is go out and find a center if you look through that available list there is not exactly a guy sitting there that’s going to be the kind of lob threat and rim protector that Luca Donuch thrives so much playing alongside wendy how do you see this summer playing out for the Lakers yeah so none of those players quite frankly are a player that Luca Donuch is looking for because they’re not the lob threat um and defensive center that um that fits um and that’s really what really transformed his situation in Dallas when they went out and got uh Derek Lively when they went out and got Daniel Gaffford so the Lakers are going to have to use these expiring contracts and I will say there should be a deal for them to make now whether or not it will transform them as a team I don’t know but they they’ve prioritized it they’ve had months to analyze it they’ve had months to an to uh have negotiations there’s no reason why in the next few days they shouldn’t be able to execute a trade if they do not um they are going to basically be going to Luca and saying “Hey trust us.” And maybe Luca will luca has given no indication that he won’t that he won’t sign that contract but ideally you want to get that locked up so that you can approach with new ownership a multi-year approach to building around Luca Donuch nice we’ll keep a close eye on that we’re also keeping a close eye on Giannis Antono and the Milwaukee Bucks what’s going on there let’s be clear here he has not asked for a trade the Bucks are not looking to trade him having said that a lot of the league is keeping an eye on what will happen the Bucks have seven free agents they really right now don’t have a team that they could they put together in any form they have four core free agents they were already a team that is going to be struggling to replace Dame Milildard for the majority if not all of this season they need a starting level point guard so they have a lot of problems they don’t have uh good assets they don’t have salary cap space they don’t have draft assets to trade and so the Bucks have stitched together repeatedly contending teams combined with Giannis playing like an MVP they’ve become a contender they’re coming off a season where they finished fifth in the Eastern Conference that is not a great position and they are they are going to struggle to bring their whole team back without Dame Lillard so the league is wondering if this doesn’t look like a contending team in a month will Giannis revisit his position of keeping hands off and that is one of the big things that could define this offseason in the NBA tim what do you think things will look like for the Bucks in a month well when you go through when Brian goes through that list of things they don’t have a lot of talent currently on the roster they’re going to have trouble keeping the current talent on the roster they don’t have a lot of draft picks to add to the roster and they don’t have free agency money to add to the roster it’s not exactly a rosy picture for what this team can do over the next several weeks now we’ve seen general manager John Horst the Milwaukee Bucks be very aggressive in the past he’s been able to go out and make moves that people didn’t think they could they went and got Drew Holiday a few years ago helped them win a title they went and got Dame Lillard a couple of summers ago so certainly the Bucks have shown an ability to be aggressive in the past and find ways to make moves even last summer they got Gary Trent to sign for the minimum a guy who people thought was going to sign an eight figure per year deal when the summer began so they have shown an ability to go get players they do have playing time to offer they do have playing next to Yiannis Tennakoupo as a carrot to offer that’s certainly something that can make guys look a lot better and get them paid more in the future true we saw that happen with Bleke Beasley who went on to sign with the Detroit Pistons last summer for more money this is a very difficult needle to thread for the Bucks to be good enough to really contend even in the Eastern Conference where you have Jason Tatum out for the year you have Tyrese Albert out for the year probably with Achilles stairs difficult puzzle for the Bucks to try to solve over here here over the next few weeks i I keep on coming back to that Damen Lillard injury in in the Indiana series here and if that didn’t happen I think we’re probably talking about Milwaukee in a little bit of a different light here but he’s going to be out for a significant period of time they need a point guard here it’s it’s it’s basically what the league is telling you we we you have $14 million how do you want to go spend it you want to go spend it and bring Gary Trent Jr back or do you want to go out and bring back a point guard here the interesting thing will be is they got their finances in order would they go into the luxury tax to bring back this roster and also use that big exception here um we’ll wait and see as far as if they do that and if they don’t is Giannis going to be in a position where he’s going to want out or should well listen we saw during the Kevin Durant trade that there were teams that did not go allin whether it be San Antonio whether it be a team like the New York Knicks uh there will be teams lined up if that ever does happen he’s this man is very loyal to his organization he has been he signed multiple extensions in the past but I do think you get to a point whether it be in a week or two weeks where you look at this roster and you’re going to have to evaluate is this good enough here you mentioned the Knicks that’s the last team we want to hit on here in our uh our windy watch they don’t have a coach what’s going on there so they’re going to interview James Burgago who was a finalist for the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching job last year former head coach of the Charlotte Hornets a wellrespected assistant that comes out of the Greg Papovich tree this will be the fourth interview that they’ve had since moving on from trying to hire another team’s head coach including former Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins two-time coach of the year Mike Brown and earlier this week they interviewed Minnesota Timberwolves top assistant Mike Anori um at the end of the day the the the Knicks situation has only brightened over the last couple of weeks even though there’s a lot of doom and gloom about them not having a coach the injuries in the Eastern Conference plus the fact that they remain under the um the Second Apron which gives them more maneuverability than some of their competing teams their odds to win the East have only increased this is a good job and they are going to have a very strong team that they bring back that they will probably be able to add to at least with a role player or two it’s just a matter of getting everything aligned and at the end of the day if their process is long it doesn’t matter if it yields the result they’re looking for what do you make of the way the Knicks are handling this Bobby well it’s certainly interesting that free agency starts on Monday and there’s you know they’ve got some open spots and there’s a priority to improve their depth the good thing is that their top seven players are under contract and the players that they’re chasing are players that are under the veteran minimum contract here it is interesting also that whoever they do hire will be walking into probably the favorite in the Eastern Conference which is a unique situation because the man they just fired took them to an Eastern Conference Finals here and there’s going to be a high level of expectation to get to him at least back to that point all right I’m told that we have breaking news in the NBA this morning Wendy yeah Shams Trania just reported that Messiah Yujiri the very highly successful longtime president of the Toronto Raptors is leaving the organization um so Messiah uh has been regarded as one of the top executives in the league he was going into the final year of his contract with the team there is a scheduled ownership change that is expected to take place next year and there was some belief that if the Raptors didn’t have a very good year that Yuiri would be um facing possibly a change the Raptors were aggressive leading into this draft um trying to move in move move uh you know either acquire a key player or uh or or move up in the draft from their ninth pick that did not happen so the Raptors go into the off seasonason a very key offseason where they are hoping to make moves to improve their position they’ve been sort of tanking recently um that didn’t happen at the draft and now apparently somebody else will get an opportunity to do it this summer well certainly he won’t be unemployed for a long time i mean if he want that’s what he wants to do he brought a championship to Toronto he made that Kawhi Leonard trade probably not a lot of front office would have done that he’s leaving a situation where they went out and got Brandon Ingram they have RJ Barrett they have um certainly Scotty Barnes Emanuel Quickley they’re one of those teams that we’ve talked about as those wild card teams as far as do they see an opportunity to get into the Eastern Conference mix here so it’s an interesting situation we’re as we said we’re 3 days away from from free agency fortunately for them a lot of their decisions have already been made as far as from a roster standpoint but we’ll see what happens from a from a trade standpoint they have a general manager there Bobby Webster who is well respected and very capable um I I I this moment I’m sure he’ll take over their offseason maneuvering but Toronto has been one of the more active teams and so uh it’s interesting that they’re going to have a leadership change while they’re on the verge of potentially making impact trades tim any thoughts on this i mean look this to me it’s just a massive move across the league messiah J is one of the most respected executives in the league he totally changed what Toronto was like in the NBA over the past 15 years as Bobby said making that Kawhi Leonard trade bringing the first championship to the Raptors he’s had a huge impact there and he is certainly a guy to watch going forward whether it’s with an expansion franchise any any executive job that comes open we talked about the Knicks don’t have an obvious fit for their coaching job messiah Jerry is going to be the first name that comes up for any open executive job going forward [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

On Get Up, Brian Windhorst, Bobby Marks and Tim Bontemps join Dan Graziano to react to Shams Charania’s report of the Toronto Raptors parting ways with Vice Chairman and President Masai Ujiri and much more.

0:00 Lakers contract updates
1:30 What must the Lakers do to incentivize Luka Doncic?
3:05 What should be the Lakers biggest offseason priority?
4:55 Giannis-Bucks update
8:34 Knicks’ head coaching search continues
10:15 Masai Ujiri and the Raptors part ways

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37 Comments

  1. Masai is overrated , they have been trash for years , kawahi hit the luckiest shot against Philly and then GS had KD tear Achilles in finals and Klay blow his knee out . Pure luck championship other than that they been trash and that’s why he is out as president

  2. I'm a Hardcore Raptor's Superfan" I Totally Agree with This Move. Masai" Has Done Absolutely Nothing as Our GM The Past 5 Year's. You Can't Live in the Past and On Past Glory's. You Did One Good thing that Help Get us a Championship in 2019 and Since Then You've Done Absolutely Nothing and Hasn't Gotten Us Any More Great Player's Since. We Couldn't even Get Porzingis. That's just Sad. Yep, It was Time for a Change. I Wish Masai the Best of Luck on Whatever Team That Hires Him. πŸ‘πŸΎπŸ‘πŸΎ

  3. Finally. What took ownership so long? Better late than never. Hopefully they'll hire a Pres/ GM based on merit. Not color of skin,gender or origin of birth. Toronto deserves a lot better than a mediocre, struggling, non playoff team.

  4. Why does EPSN do this? Make title of video Raptors and then bait and switch and talk about other topics for 10 of the 12 minute video. Is it so that people will click on the video to hear the latest NBA news but then they can justify Lakers content saying it got all these views?

  5. I enjoy competition. He was initially one of those individuals we now refer to as "Try Hards" when they believe they're in a good position. However, you have to give him credit; he is one of the original pioneers in his field. He has accomplished nearly everything regarding player adaptability, from advancement to becoming president of the league. And let's not forget his excellence as an African American, I tell you!

  6. I take pleasure in competition; he used to be a 'Try Hard' who believed he was in a favorable spot. Nevertheless, he deserves recognition as a trailblazer in his domain, accomplishing almost everything in player adaptability, even rising to the position of team president in the league. Additionally, his outstanding achievements as an African American are commendable!

  7. TBH after the championship he handled assest poorly sat still too long. Granted he drafts well but I think its time for a change.

  8. The Knicks coaching job seems just like Golden State. They fired Mark Jackson after he took the Warriors to the playoffs, and Steve Kerr inherited that dynasty just like whoever gets the Knicks job.

  9. Whoa Bobby Marks talking about Toronto is a miracle πŸ˜‚ the fact everyone gives Masai all the love for the Kawhi move when he wasn’t the GM is impressive.. do people give Jeanie Buss credit for LeBron or Dolan for Katt or etc?

  10. @ESPN basically cost cutting move for MLSE after paying blue jay vlad guerrero 500 million usd, and raptors also having the conversion tax of converting cnd to usd to pay players. Ed Rogers didnt want to spend money on execs so he fired them cuz it leaked from Wolstat of the toronto sun, its a cost cutting move.

  11. I’m a Knicks fan but the Lakers need a lob threat like Mitch that’s the center on the Knicks. Great defensively and a lob threat. They need someone like that

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