Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri stressed that the thought of losing All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry to Free Agency doesn’t worry him much, adding that it is his job to figure out how to improve the team with or without the same personnel next season. Ujiri set the record straight in an interview on "Tim and Sid’s" on Sportsnet.
Part of the business
Lowry, who averaged 22.4 points and 7.0 dimes per game last season, will hit the market as an unrestricted free agent this off-season. Meaning, the All-Star play-maker can sign elsewhere, though the Raptors have the right to offer a larger and longer deal (a starting salary of $30M per year) because they own his Larry Bird right.
However, with the Raptors’ cap room very limited, it’s no guarantee Ujiri will throw in that much money for a guard who turned 31-years- old last March.
Moreover, the Raptors are also trying to retain the services of incoming free agents Serge Ibaka, P.J Tucker and Patrick Patterson, who all deserve a significant pay raise.
Ujiri, a former NBA Executive of the Year winner and the mastermind behind the Raptors’ emergence as perennial playoff contenders in the East, admitted that losing Lowry this summer would not feel good, though he’s also aware of the fact that the ball is in Lowry’s court as far as free agency is concerned. He added that it is his job to keep the team competitive -- whether they retain Lowry’s services or not.
"What's my job? My job is to make it happen [re-signing Lowry]. Or my job is to figure it out, if it doesn't happen, where we go from here.
Kyle has decisions to make, and we have decisions to make,” Ujiri said.
Culture reset
In a separate interview on Sportsnet, Ujiri discussed his plan of introducing a different style of play to the team next season, one that requires players to jack up the number of assists and three-point attempts. Once again, the Raptors GM reiterated his commitment to Casey as the team’s head coach, although he’s now asking him to input a system that is predicated on ball movement and pace-and-space.
“But now it’s time to address and see if we can move the ball more and figure out a way to pass the ball more to get better options. And use the players that we have. I don’t think this is a matter of changing players or anything like that. How do we change a little bit of how we play and how we approach the game?” Ujiri said.
Ujiri even used the terms "reset" and "culture change" in describing his plans to make the Raptors a fast-paced, offense-oriented ball-club that can hopefully rival the Cleveland Cavaliers' explosive offense.
