Toronto Raptors general manager Jeff Weltman reportedly hired by Orlando Magic

The first change for the Toronto Raptors this offseason comes off the court, with general manager Jeff Weltman leaving the franchise to join the Orlando Magic.

The Orlando Magic have hired Toronto Raptors general manager Jeff Weltman to be their president of basketball operations, according to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.

Weltman will have his work cut out for him in Orlando, but with Bismack Biyombo and Terrence Ross on the roster he does have some familiarity with who he’s working with. Weltman is also familiar with Evan Fournier and Elfrid Payton through draft workouts and Masai Ujiri, so he isn’t necessarily starting from scratch in Orlando. Despite his familiarity, though, the Magic are in need of a roster overhaul and need to decide what direction they want to go in.

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As for the Raptors, losing Weltman of course hurts, but this is the nature of the beast when you have a winning team and a good front office. With Ujiri’s right-hand man gone, the Raptors will more than likely promote from within and give either assistant general manager Bobby Webster, Raptors 905 general manager Dan Tolzman, or vice president of basketball operations and player development Theresa Resch a chance to replace Weltman.

Although Weltman was a great counterpart to Ujiri, I would guess that the Raptors front office will continue to make collaborative decisions with their staff before Ujiri has the final say, so there shouldn’t be too much change in the way Toronto’s front office operates.

Considering how highly people speak of Webster, who is said to be a salary cap expert, I could see the Raptors promoting him to general manager. Tolzman and Resch have been fantastic when it comes to player development, which is evident through the Raptors 905, and I could see both of them taking on a larger role, too. But based on what has been said thus far, I think it’s fair to say Webster is the consensus pick to replace Weltman.

Next: Ibaka will reportedly re-sign with the Raptors

Who do you think the Toronto Raptors will promote to replace Jeff Weltman? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.