Toronto Raptors: Masai Ujiri speculation with Knicks getting uneasy
Once again, a report suggested the New York Knicks want to pursue Masai Ujiri but can the Toronto Raptors ease the growing concerns?
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, Masai Ujiri is reportedly leaving the Toronto Raptors to join the New York Knicks.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski re-opened the issue and given his reputation it’s not something that can just be tossed aside even if it’s the Knicks. The main reason why this report is different is because of the follow up from Mark Stein.
More from Tip of the Tower
- Cam Phillips making his mark on Toronto Argonauts offence
- Toronto Argonauts: 4 storylines ahead of matchup against Redblacks
- Federico Bernardeschi ready for new challenge with Toronto FC
- Toronto Argonauts overcome Roughriders in entertaining Touchdown Atlantic
- Buffalo Bills: Von Miller drawing inspiration from Bruce Smith
Not only did Stein add to Woj’s report but he took it a step further suggesting that Adam Silver is pushing Ujiri to make his way over to the Knicks. Of course, the NBA responded claiming that the report was false but usually where there is smoke, there is fire.
The troubling part about all of this wasn’t just that the Knicks are targeting Ujiri but that general manager Bobby Webster would be coming with him. You can also bet that other members of the Raptors organization would be joining with Ujiri too if he were to ever move on.
This is why the Raptors fanbase is getting a bit worried even though there isn’t any concrete evidence to suggest that Ujiri is leaving. What would alleviate any concern is if MLSE stepped up and either made an offer or say their biggest priority is to re-sign their president.
Considering how this Raptors team continues to exceed expectations, it’s no surprise to see that the most embarrassing franchise in the NBA is looking at Ujiri to get them back on track. At the same time, the one person we haven’t heard from is Ujiri himself and the only time we heard him even talk about the situation was back in 2014 with George Stroumboulopoulos.
Michael Grange wrote for Sportsnet that if Ujiri were to leave for the Knicks it would happen this off-season but that would mean the Raptors would have to agree to let him go. However, while Grange believes that Ujiri is gone, he offered this quote from someone who knows Knicks owner James Dolan really well.
"“James is James. You can give him all the advice, all the guidance, all the background and he’s still going to do what he wants to do. He moves to the beat of his own drum.”"
Maybe with the move to fire Steve Mills the Knicks to won’t be willing to wait for Ujiri which was also reported as well, but as long as that job is open the Raptors fans should be concerned.
We know how much Ujiri means to this team and he hasn’t shown any desire to leave but the challenge of fixing the Knicks is certainly enticing and hopefully, we’ll find out one way or another if the Ujiri era is going to come to an end.
Raptors continue to carry themselves like champions. dark. Next
Do you think the Ujiri is going to leave the Raptors? What does this mean for the team going forward? Let us know in the comments below.