TORONTO – Masai Ujiri has had his hands full recently, so you can understand why his contractual status may not be top of mind.
After advising the NBA on its return-to-play strategy early in the pandemic and spending months with his team in the Orlando bubble, while continuing to embrace a leadership role in the ongoing fight for racial justice and equality, the Toronto Raptors president remained busy navigating the draft and free agency.
At the same time, Ujiri was working closely with the Canadian and American governments in the hopes of securing the necessary clearance for his team to host games north of the border this coming season. Once the bid was denied, he helped oversee their temporary relocation to Tampa.
He and his not-for-profit organization, Giants of Africa, just finished planning their seventh annual event honouring the life and memory of former South African president Nelson Mandela, which was held virtually last week – a cause that is near and dear to Ujiri’s heart.
Meanwhile, his stated goal of securing new contracts for his Raptors staff is nearly completed – starting with the extension for head coach Nick Nurse in September and culminating in general manager Bobby Webster’s deal, which, according to Ujiri, is “pretty much done.”
As the Raptors get set to open training camp this week – their first team practice is scheduled for Sunday – and tip-off the 2020-21 campaign at “home” to New Orleans on December 23, the elephant in the room is Ujiri’s own future with the club.
One of league’s top executives, the 50-year-old Ujiri is going into the final season of his current contract. In September, he told the media that he still hadn’t spoken to ownership regarding an extension, and on a Saturday morning conference call, he gave no indication that anything had changed in that regard.
“There’s just been so much [going on],” he said. “Honestly, it’s not a matter of not doing it, I think there’s just been so much [and] I’ve pushed it [back] until, I think, we get through a lot of this. There’s just so much going on with this relocation, and the focus, I don’t want to be distracted that way.”
With his people taken care of and the team getting comfortable in its new home, the time is approaching for Ujiri to sit down and evaluate his next move.
Already among the association’s highest paid execs, Ujiri should have all the leverage he needs to essentially craft the terms of his new deal. Short of sliding a pen and blank cheque across the table – or however contracts are drawn up in the COVID-19 era – it’s hard to imagine Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment balking at anything Ujiri could or would ask for, not only because of what he’s accomplished in Toronto or even the number of interested teams that have come calling, but because of how crucially important he is to where the franchise wants to go from here.
Ujiri and the Raptors have made no secret of their ambitions for the summer of 2021. Maintaining cap flexibility, and the option of opening up the requisite space to offer a max contact, has been a top priority – it’s motivated nearly every decision they’ve made, or haven’t made, over the past couple years.
Since taking the job atop Toronto’s front office back in 2013, Ujiri has checked off a lot of boxes on his list of goals. He wanted to build a state-of-the-art practice facility and get the franchise its own G League – at the time, D-League – affiliate. He wanted to change the culture of an organization that had fallen on hard times and was mired in a team record five-year playoff drought. He wanted to build a winning foundation, and yes, he promised to bring the city a championship. He’s delivered on all of those things, and then some.
Just about the only thing he’s yet to accomplish, and another stated goal of his, is to finally lure a star free agent – at or close to the peak of his career – to Toronto. In 25 years, it’s never been done.
For the bulk of their existence, the Raptors have been haunted by the stigma that star players don’t want to be in Canada. That many of their own stars left or engineered their exists, particularly in that first decade – Damon Stoudamire, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and Chris Bosh – certainly didn’t help dispel that narrative.
Under Ujiri, these Raptors are looked at very differently – within their own city and country, but also around the league. Keeping their own stars no longer seems like an impossible task – DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry both signed multiple contracts to stay in Toronto and, most recently, Fred VanVleet did the same – and they’re confident that the reputation they’ve built is strong enough to attract the league’s best players on the open market.
It’s been a while since they’ve had the chance to test that theory. Operating as an above cap team for most of Ujiri’s tenure, the Raptors haven’t had significant money to spend in free agency since they signed DeMarre Carroll to an ill fated four-year, $60-million deal in 2015.
They’ve set themselves up to be major players in the highly anticipated 2021 free agency sweepstakes, which could include the reigning two-time MVP – and long-time Ujiri target – Giannis Antetokounmpo, among other stars. The question is, will Ujiri be around to make the sales pitch?
If Ujiri is succession planning, the Raptors would be in capable hands with Webster and assistant GM Dan Tolzman – a couple of rising stars in the executive ranks – steering the ship. Still, there aren’t many people in the business that can replicate Ujiri’s presence and salesmanship. He’s the guy you want leading any meeting with a star free agent, especially if that free agent happens to be a certain Greek forward, with whom Ujiri already has a relationship. But what if Ujiri, himself, is also a free agent?
Simply put, the Raptors can’t let that happen. Assuming there hasn’t been any progress made on the extension front, it’s hard to believe that’s an ownership choice. Meaning, Ujiri will decide if and when the time is right to start the conversation.
Now that the dust is settling on an eventful 2020, this would seem like as good a time as any.
“I don’t know what the timeframe will be,” said Ujiri, who was asked if he anticipates getting a new deal done over the coming months. “I go into this thing with a very positive mind and attitude. And we hope it goes that way.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
