Masai Ujiri OUT in Toronto, end of a Raptors era

Masai Ujiri OUT in Toronto, end of a Raptors era

messiah Jiri is gone from the Toronto Raptors sham Shiranya first reporting as Messiah’s done it’s unbelievable i just can’t believe it as it comes out of my mouth out as vice chairman and president of the Toronto Raptors Shams added Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and Messiah have decided to part ways as UI was entering the final year of his contract trey how do you feel about this
i mean we got to hear mostly from you man you’re actually a Raptors fan for me I was just shocked that it happened the timing of it
good for us making a show coming in like half an hour before we’re getting ready to record thank you to the Raptors but the fact that the draft happened the last two nights
assumably Messiah was involved in the decisions made to take Colin Murray Boils and forget the name of their second round pick from last night nonetheless very strange that he would be involved at all in deciding the new guys that are going to be coming uh into Toronto only to be let go a couple of days later you know a few hours if we’re being quite honest from the second round so
yeah this was a a shock you know there have always been rumors that Messiah was desired by other teams throughout the league there is the expire he’s on an expiring contract and MLS apparently didn’t want to pay him but I always thought whenever Messiah leaves the Raptors it would be him choosing to go somewhere else to start fresh somewhere never them saying goodbye to him
yes I’m totally with you on that and that’s why I included that second part where Sham’s notes they have parted ways usually when you hear that about a coach or anybody in the NBA world they just fired him in this case I sure do think Messiah is just ready to move on in life he’s been there for 12 years he will forever be remembered as a god with the Toronto Raptors i mean if Kawawaii gets a statue I don’t mind putting a statue of Messiahi right beside it that deal to get Kawhi Leonard took a lot of guts to deal Demar De Rozan who was if we’re using the term God yes I am was a god to Toronto Raptors fans they loved him they adored him they moved on messiah was that guy in front of all those fans saying “I’m gonna swear two days in a row here.” Uh Brooklyn I bleed it i I’ll bleep it uh you know he did the whole thing for Paul Pierce too we don’t give a about it yeah bleeping myself yeah no Messiah Messiah would never bleep himself but I I do think here we are again it’s 12 years later since he got to Toronto i just think he has other ideas that he wants to do in life i I I would believe that i I do think he sort of passed the baton on to Bobby Webster to kind of run the show i don’t think this has anything to do with Colin Murray Boils and and making that decision hey the Colin Murray Boils videos that are being reeled out now after he was picked he worked out for them he said “I love being here.” Anyway he wore a shirt as a young boy i saw he had a Raptor shirt on he was like at I don’t know 10 years old or something like that it is good that they have a ready-made replacement like Bobby Webster is the guy in waiting for a few years at this point and it kind of seemed like maybe a team would poach Bobby Webster before Messiah ever actually left Toronto that’s how
his standing has increased amongst NBA circles messiah really helped get the Raptors relevant in the NBA i think Josh Lewenberg uh is mentioning the Raptors when Messiah took over had a 5-year playoff drought and had won one playoff series in their existence with Messiah there eight playoff appearances they won 57% of their games which is the fifth best since Messiah took over and then of course won the championship in 2019 making the incredible move to bring in Kawhi Leonard and sending away a franchise mainstay in D rozan but all the moves prior to that as well really worked out you know getting Ibaka getting Marcus finding Fred Van Vleet making Pascal Seakum into an all-star it was just like hit after hit after hit after hit from Dwayne Casey even yeah he was super smart about it built the team up and then
similar to Joe Dumar’s tenure in Detroit
things have been a little rockier after winning the championship you know I think it’s been four straight seasons that the Raptors traded a first round pick for a veteran who was going to be entering free agency we’re talking about Thad Young Jakob Purle Kelly Olen and then Brandon Ingram this past trade deadline those were very weird moves but because it was Messiah making him it was like “Trust in Messiah.”
But Zambier what have you done for me lately the Raptors are saying “You haven’t done enough for us lately you brought in a lot of 6’9 guys and we keep ending near the playin tournament with the contract up for negotiation they said it’s not worth it for us it’s just crazy.” So you think it’s more the ownership saying we don’t want to pay Messiah to be running our show period yeah I do
yeah I think they have cheap ownership
yeah I think it’s a 50/50 i that is Yes it’s potentially part of it i do think Messiah is ready to move on and other franchises may be willing to pay him more i I I I can’t disagree with that but I don’t even know if he stays in the NBA i’m not totally sold on that maybe he moves on to an endeavor with Africa/thembba if they move on there i don’t know if he moves on to the Toronto Tempo in in some way uh shape or form where Theresa Rash has taken over who was the VP of the Toronto Raptors with Messiah for a while so I you know I named those couple things i think maybe he’ll be like a freelancer you know not like an employee of 100% of the time i I don’t know what he wants to do he can obviously go get a job in the NBA if he wants but I’m not sure and maybe he demands too much money i I don’t know i don’t see it i don’t see the the Washington Wizards connection that used to be there or the Knicks connection that used to be there but maybe there is one that I’m just missing i I don’t have one jumping out to me
yeah I don’t know off the top of my head either because Yeah like Leon Rose seemed pretty entrenched in New York that was always an opportunity for Messiah the Wizards just changed over their front office so they’re probably not going to make a move maybe he just sits out for a couple of seasons and then
whether or not a team decides to wow him with a big time contract to lure him back maybe or like you’re saying he’s got a lot of off-c court interest as well with NBA Africa basketball without borders that kind of stuff
yes so Messiah leaving the Toronto Raptors the end of an era as you went through that the the playoff series victories yes it was a different world a pre- Messiah it was a a bad bad run but Messiah changed things so
we’ll see what Bobby Webster’s got like does he have the same opinions as Messiah i assume they have some sort of overlap but maybe he likes guys that are seven feet tall you know maybe it’s not just 6’9 guys he could like get people of any height
yeah i I do wonder even yesterday or two days ago now when they drafted Colin Murray Boils was it Bobby or was it Messiah uh so I because I I think him being there that long kind of already was saying it’s it’s your turn Bobby uh because Bobby was doing a lot of the work doing a lot of the media work so TBD on the future of the Toronto Raptors but it was a great 12 years that is for sure [Music]

After 13 years, Masai Ujiri is out as Vice President and President of the Toronto Raptors. No Dunks reacts to the news and breaks down what happens next.

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