The Toronto Raptors have finally closed the door on what was one of the most difficult seasons in franchise history. President of basketball operations Masai Ujiri finally made the difficult decision to trade away Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, resetting the Raptors’ future. But injuries and off court troubles stopped the Raptors from showing what they could be this season.
Toronto finished 25-57, the fifth-worst record in franchise history. They suffered a 15-game losing streak towards the end of the season that was two away from their franchise worst.
But even with all of these bad stats, there are many reasons for positivity moving forward. And that is what Ujiri tried to focus on as he reflected on the difficult campaign, via The Shift:
“I thank the organization, our fans. I think putting them through a year like this is not easy for all of us…but we’re going to take all the positives from this and build as much as we can going forward.”
Ujiri plans on accomplishing the Raptors’ goals by leaning on the excellent culture that has sustained their success for so long in his tenure as a top decision maker, via the Raptors:
“Culture of this team will always be at a high level. And yes we’re going to go through adversity just like every other place, human being, organization or anything but the culture of this place is always going to be strong.”
The Raptors have always had a strong culture to lean on, and while cultures are often tested during rebuilds, there is no doubt that Ujiri has the situation under control. He has guided the Raptors through several major changes only for the team to come out better for it on the other side.
Masai Ujiri has full faith in Scottie Barnes
Barnes is coming off his best season as a pro, despite it being cut short due to injury. The 22-year-old took a giant leap in his third season and became an NBA All-Star.
In 60 games for the Raptors this season, Barnes averaged 19.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks. He shot it 47.5 percent from the field and 34.1 percent from deep. These were all career-highs across the board. Barnes showed that he can be the guy to help turn this team’s fortunes around.
Ujiri talked about Barnes’ growth and how difficult it is to find guys like him.
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