With the NBA Draft just two days away and a flurry of rumours swirling around the league and his franchise, Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri met with the media Tuesday morning to address a number of topics.
No topic was more pressing than the status of the Raps’ quartet of upcoming free agents: Serge Ibaka, P.J. Tucker, Patrick Patterson, and, especially, Kyle Lowry.
After a report was floated Monday night that Lowry had ‘zero interest‘ in returning to Toronto, the three-time all-star took to Twitter himself to put out the fire, calling the report “bs” and warning his followers not to believe what they hear.
Entering free agency as one of the most coveted players available, speculation over whether or not he’ll re-sign with the Raptors has been a major point of discussion. At his end-of-season press conference, Ujiri stated that he intended to try to bring Lowry back to Toronto, but the reality is that decision is not entirely in his control.
The Raptors are able to offer Lowry an extra year on his contract at a higher salary rate, but know there will be competition, a notion that is only further strengthened as more news unfolds around the league. For example, earlier this morning, San Antonio Spurs big man Pau Gasol declined his $16 million player option for next season, presumably in order to create more cap space for the Spurs to pursue free agents like Lowry.
“We’re well prepared for any direction we go,” Ujiri said on Tuesday, acknowledging that the team would be pleased if their starting point guard returned next season, but added, “If that goes the other way, we’re excited, too. It’s a good time for us.”
“He says he wants to come back,” Ujiri continued. “…We all have ups and downs. There are times when he’s been down, when we’ve been down. It happens with every player. I can only believe what he tells me, not the famous ‘sources.’ We’ll see how that goes.”
Ujiri also stated that he and his staff have identified five different scenarios in terms of how this off-season can go for the Raptors. “We’re studying them very hard.”
He acknowledged that as far as major NBA news and the ever-churning rumour mill goes, we’re only getting started.
“It’s two days from the draft, and a lot of things will come up then. I know that when there’s a deadline like draft day we all get into high-gear. Things will happen around the league, I don’t know with us. I don’t know what offers will be made or what will be presented to us. What happened the last couple of days, who knew that would happen? You have to pay attention to all of that stuff.”
On another note, Ujiri also mentioned that he had made a decision in terms of who he will hire as his next general manager in the wake of Jeff Weltman’s departure to Orlando. He says he’ll announce who the Raptors’ new GM is within the next “couple of days.”
[relatedlinks]