Raptors president Masai Ujiri says club still working to get better after missing playoffs

John Chidley-Hill · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 16, 2025 3:19 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Masai Ujiri believes determination are 3 ways to physique a palmy NBA team: the draft, via commercialized oregon successful escaped agency.

The Raptors president said astatine his season-ending quality league connected Wednesday that his beforehand bureau has done good to crook the team's fortunes astir and Toronto is poised instrumentality to the post-season.

Ujiri acknowledged it was a good enactment to locomotion trying to amended the Raptors this play without damaging their presumption successful this summer's NBA draft.

"We person to play the crippled and effort to play the crippled the champion we can," said Ujiri successful the media centre of Toronto's OVO Athletic Centre. "And besides instrumentality attraction of our concern and trying to physique our squad depending connected the markets that you are oregon the mode you tin get players.

"We tried to onslaught to the likelihood successful the lottery and spot what we tin do."

Toronto (30-52) finished 7 games retired of the Eastern Conference's last play-in spot. That gives the Raptors the seventh-worst grounds successful the NBA, with a 31.9 per cent accidental of getting a top-four prime and a 7.5 per cent changeable astatine the first-overall enactment astatine the NBA Draft Lottery connected May 12.

Duke Blue Devils defender Cooper Flagg is the statement apical prime successful the draught to beryllium held connected June 25, but Ujiri said it's a peculiarly promising radical of players to take from.

"Wherever we fall, we're going to spell for the champion endowment available," said Ujiri. "I cognize it's the reply everybody gives oregon possibly we give, but it's a unsocial draft, and we consciousness that we volition person a talented subordinate available, and we'll effort to get 1 that fits our shot club."

The Raptors entered the 2024 draught with conscionable 1 prime but, done trades and a escaped cause signing, coiled up with 5 rookies: Ja'Kobe Walter (19th overall), Jonathan Mogbo (31st), Jamal Shead (45th), Ulrich Chomche (57th) and Jamison Battle (undrafted escaped agent). Chomche missed astir of the play erstwhile helium tore his ulnar collateral ligament successful February, but the different 4 each impressed.

Ingram solidifies adjacent year's starting rotation

Toronto besides added erstwhile all-star Brandon Ingram done a woody with the New Orleans Pelicans earlier the NBA commercialized deadline, presumably solidifying adjacent year's starting rotation with the helping joining Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., and Jakob Poeltl.

"This is however you physique a team, done the draft, done escaped agency, oregon done trading for a player," said Ujiri. "We've done them each here, but you person to work the market. You person to fig retired what the accidental is.

"Sometimes I tin warrant you determination are galore unsocial opportunities that are going to travel up successful July [when escaped bureau opens] and we person to look astatine each of them."

During the 2023 off-season Ujiri repeatedly said the squad needed a taste reset, to go little selfish connected the tribunal and person disconnected it. He gave Toronto's existent civilization an A+ connected Wednesday.

"We're moving connected our offence, and I deliberation our offence volition get amended arsenic we grow, but we person that focus, of playing unneurotic and playing the close way, and attacking the game," said Ujiri. "It's truly built our culture. You spot the civilization of the players adjacent disconnected the court.

"These guys, they bash it for themselves, and I'm arrogant of them for that, and I'm arrogant of [head manager Darko Rajakovic] for mounting that and [general manager Bobby Webster] for mounting that level for them successful immoderate ways."

Ujiri besides praised Rajakovic for the interaction he's had connected the young team. He added that helium picked up the enactment connected Rajakvoic's declaration past off-season arsenic a ballot of assurance contempt a 25-57 grounds aft his archetypal twelvemonth arsenic a caput manager successful the NBA.

"Not everybody wants to consciousness similar you're looking implicit your enarthrosis successful immoderate benignant of way, and I deliberation it's the close happening to do," said Ujiri. "But much than that, helium was deserving. For improvement and coaching these guys, his communication, his leadership, however helium brings each the departments together. I deliberation he's done a phenomenal job.

"We enactment him successful a pugnacious situation, and we recognize that, and I recognize that. It's bully to marque idiosyncratic consciousness comfy with his occupation and consciousness comfy wherever helium is."