Raptors executive Masai Ujiri discusses coaching change, team direction

Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri spoke to the media on Friday following the team’s dismissal of head coach Nick Nurse.

While Ujiri didn’t give a concrete reason as to why he felt it was time to go in a different direction, he noted that “complacency” and “selfishness” were season-long problems for the team, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Ujiri said he didn’t enjoy watching the Raptors play in 2022-23.

“You could see it throughout the year. There was never that full excitement. There was never that full spirit,” said Ujiri. “There was never that (feeling) of togetherness. We all saw it. You all saw it. It’s not something we are making up here… It’s not one person or one finger to point. I’m not pointing the finger at Nick. I have to take responsibility for this, too. As the leader of this organization, I will do that. It wasn’t us. This year wasn’t us. I think everybody saw that.”

Another factor in the decision was Nurse’s reluctance to play young bench players, Grange notes. Ujiri believes there are skilled young players on the team who were not given much of an opportunity to learn on the go.

“…All the young players we have I think one of the things we talked about was maybe utilizing some of these players a little bit more,” said Ujiri. “Like giving them room to actually show if they have or if they don’t have (it). I think we didn’t do so well with that this year. I think that hurt us some in developing our young players.”

“I think there’s talent,” Ujiri added. “It just hasn’t come out yet. We’re still developing, and this takes time sometimes. Maybe we could be wrong, but we still believe in those kids as talents.”

Here’s more on the Raptors:

• There were some other internal issues as well. A rival assistant coach told Grange that Toronto’s entire coaching staff was known as “less than cohesive,” which does not reflect well on Nurse as the head coach. Grange suggests “sweeping changes” to Nurse’s staff were likely even if he had kept his job. That aligns with reporting from Doug Smith of The Toronto Star (Twitter link), who hears that the Raptors have been interviewing potential assistant coaches this week in anticipation of a “mass exodus.”
• Nurse was also reluctant to be the “bad guy” at times. A player tells Grange that Ujiri was often the one responsible for chiding the team for its poor play after listless performances during the campaign, rather than Nurse.
• Still, Nurse likely won’t have any issues finding a new head coaching job and the poor results in 2022-23 do not fall solely on him. “If he wants a job, he’ll get a job,” a rival general manager told Grange.
• Ujiri believes more changes are necessary to get the team heading in the right direction. That starts with himself, per John Chidley-Hill of The Canadian Press (link via The Toronto Star). “Look at the roster maybe in a different way. We have to figure out shooting on this roster in some kind of way. We have to figure out who fits and who doesn’t fit,” said Ujiri. “On the overall, maybe manage people better. Maybe see things a little bit deeper because when we hire people I let them do their jobs. That’s been a strength of ours the last 10 years here but I pay attention now a little bit more.”
• Ujiri praised trade deadline acquisition Jakob Poeltl, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. Ujiri referred to Poeltl as a top-10 center in the NBA and believes his high basketball IQ and playing style make him a potential “championship piece."
• The longtime president expects forward Otto Porter to return next season — he holds a $6.3M player option for 2023-24, according to Grange (Twitter link). Ujiri also said the Raptors plan to hang onto two-way guard Jeff Dowtin, despite not converting his contract to a standard deal at the end of the season.
• As for his being linked to the Wizards‘ new front office vacancy following the dismissal of Tommy Sheppard, Ujiri says he’s not going anywhere. “I’m going to be right here, [Toronto],” he said (Twitter link via Grange). As Grange notes, Ujiri still has three years remaining on his current contract.