'Business continues as usual': Raptors president Masai Ujiri says there are no issues with Edward Rogers
Team has 'clean slate' heading into new season, leaning into rebuild season
Toronto Raptors team president Masai Ujiri tried to lay to rest rumours that he has friction with Edward Rogers, the executive chair of Rogers Communications, Inc.
Ujiri was asked about his relationship with Edward Rogers on Monday morning during Raptors media day before their pre-season training camp began. The question came nearly two weeks after Rogers Communications announced it was going to acquire rival telecom BCE Inc.'s 37.5 per cent stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the Raptors' ownership group, for $4.7 billion.
"I'm going to set the record straight here: Business continues as usual," said Ujiri. "I think everybody wants to ask the question of my relationship with Edward Rogers.
The Toronto Star reported in 2021 that Rogers had unsuccessfully fought plans to re-sign Ujiri as vice chairman and president of basketball operations, saying he was not worth the amount offered.
"People talk about negotiating and when we negotiated my contract. Yeah, those periods are tough," said Ujiri, joking that he had tough negotiations with his three-year-old son that very morning. "This is life and we all we all go through this. So I want to set that clear that [Edward Rogers] has never treated me any different.
"From when that went on, we moved on. Everybody moves on. You have tough negotiations with everything we do. That's the nature of my job."
Ujiri's current contract will reportedly expire in 2026. The Raptors are entering what he called a rebuilding year on Monday after finishing last season with a 25-57 record, 12th in the NBA's Eastern Conference.
MLSE owns almost all of Toronto's professional sports teams, including the Raptors, NHL's Maple Leafs, Major League Soccer's Toronto FC, and the CFL's Argonauts.
Tanenbaum 'always been a mentor'
MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum, via his holding company Kilmer Sports Inc., owns the other 25 per cent stake. OMERS, a Canadian pension fund, purchased a five per cent indirect stake in MLSE in the summer of 2023 through a 20 per cent direct stake in Kilmer Sports for $400 million US.
"In terms of Larry Tanenbaum, he's always been a mentor. He'll always be a mentor," said Ujiri. "These guys have treated me with respect here. They've treated me well."
Kilmer announced this past summer that it was bringing a WNBA franchise to Toronto. Edward Rogers had also reportedly argued against MLSE making a bid for a WNBA franchise, which led to Tanenbaum and his holding company to strike out on its own for that team.
Rogers Communications wholly owns the Toronto Blue Jays.
Ujiri spoke with media for nearly 25 minutes to kick off the Raptors' media day at Scotiabank Arena. He returned to the podium after the death of NBA great Dikembe Mutombo was announced online.
"It's really hard to believe. It's hard for us to be without that guy," said a visibluy upset Ujiri. "You have no idea what Dikembe Mutombo meant to me. Wow. It's a tough one.
"I'm sorry. It's a tough one. I have to say, that guy, he made us who we are. That guy's a giant, an incredible person. Who are we without Dikembe Mutombo? Not possible. It really is not."
'Clean slate' ahead of rebuild season
Head coach Darko Rajakovic is putting on his foreman's helmet as the Raptors lean into developing their young core this season.
Rajakovic thinks the Raptors have a "clean slate" in his second year in Toronto and team president Masai Ujiri called it a rebuild — a term he had previously avoided — on Monday. Rajakovic spoke in construction terms at Scotiabank Arena, with the venue itself still in the midst of renovations.
"The first thing that you do when you're building a house, you need to find land where you want to build your house," said Rajakovic. "After that you need to dig a really big hole so you can make your basement and work on the foundation of the house.
"A lot of the time, from the street, you cannot see what's going on. You cannot see the results very quickly. But those are the most important steps we're going to be making right now."
Ujiri tore the Raptors roster down last season in a series of trades that essentially ended Toronto's 2019 NBA championship era. That included sending steady defenders O.G. Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa to the New York Knicks for Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont. It also meant trading all-star forward Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers in another blockbuster deal.
That turnover and a series of injuries to key players like all-star forward Scottie Barnes and starting centre Jakob Poeltl led to a disastrous 25-57 record in Rajakovic's first season as an NBA head coach.
Depth also restocked
Toronto also restocked its depth, making trades during the NBA Draft to bring in four young prospects: Ja'Kobe Walter (19th overall), Jonathan Mogbo (31st), Jamal Shead (45th) and Ulrich Chomche (57th).
Rajakovic said that when the Raptors rebuild gets to the more apparent features of his metaphor like putting up walls, a roof, and windows, it will be thanks to work behind the scenes.
"A lot of film, a lot of education on the court and off the court that we've got to do this year," he said. "I'm going to have a much more holistic approach in developing our team and our roster.
"The most important thing is going to be not skipping any steps. If we need to stick a little bit longer for some teaching and some implementation of stuff, we're going to stick on that until we really get to the level that we believe it's time to make the next step for the team."
In the past, Ujiri had called the Raptors' overhaul a refresh or a reset, but he declared it a rebuild on Monday. He also said it's not the players' job to worry about it.
Barnes wasn't concerned with striking a balance between development and winning, since he was committed to trusting his coach's process.
"Don't get frustrated throughout the season, throughout the ups and downs," said Barnes, in a crisp white and red jersey after taking his team photo. "Of course we want to win and we know we can win but it just takes time.
"So don't get frustrated throughout that process and just keep trying to focus on our main goal, try to get better and focus on that picture."
Barrett and Quickley were traded from New York to Toronto on Dec. 30. Because the Knicks were on the road when the deal was finalized both players had most of their clothes back in New York, making their personal lives a logistical tangle while they had to try and get up to speed on the Raptors' on-court systems.
"Coming in midway, I was playing without really knowing any of the plays," said Barrett. "I got here and I think I played, like, two days after I got traded, or something like that.
"Learning everything on the fly was fun, but now to be here and being locked in from the jump, it's more comfortable for me, for everybody. Now, we're able to know what we're doing, the direction we're going from the start."
The Raptors will hold their training camp at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal. It's the first time their training camp is in the city of Montreal. Toronto trained in Quebec City in 2019.
