Even things that stay the same next season for the Toronto Raptors will have a different feel.
In his introductory press conference on Tuesday morning, new general manager Masai Ujiri stopped short of confirming that Dwane Casey would return as the head coach of the Raptors, but acknowledged that he currently didn’t have see reason why he would not be back.
Originally saying he needed time to sit down with Casey as both would share their philosophies and evaluations of the roster to determine whether things would work before moving forward, when speaking with a smaller group of reporters after his press conference, Ujiri was clearer on not being bound to a specific timeframe to make the decision on Casey.
“For me, we’ve got good time,” Ujiri said. “I don’t think there’s a timeline to be made or anything, we’ve had a couple good conversations and I’m here to make things work, we want to win, we’re all going to do this collectively. It’s not one person, it’s a staff, it’s coaching, it’s ownership, and it’s the city and fans and we’re all going to become one, that’s what the good teams do and we’re going to become like that in this city.”
While Casey and Bryan Colangelo both denied talk of any rift between the coaching staff and front office last season, Ujiri, while clasping his hands together, said, “This organization is going to be like this now, and we will all be on the same page and have the same goals.”
If Casey does remain at the helm as is expected, it will be a much different dynamic than the past two seasons. From the moment Ujiri was announced as the new general manager hire for the franchise, it has been made abundantly clear that all decisions and moves will be his.
With Ujiri not yet announcing which path the organization will take as it tries to right its path and get back to respectability, Casey, in the final year of his contract with plenty still to prove to his new boss, will have to be flexible. Whatever the game plan is, he’ll need to get on board. There are few things more difficult in professional sports than the beginning of a complete rebuild.
If this is the route the franchise elects to embark upon — trading assets, starting over and having a few more rough years while collecting and then developing young talent — it will be a tough challenge to grin and bear for Casey. With one solid and one disappointing season both under his belt, it will be a choice he doesn’t have much say in.
The one thing that was made clear on Tuesday was that after MLSE had gone all in on prying Ujiri from the Denver Nuggets, they have given him complete and total authority to do what he feels is right for the franchise. Whoever does stay on with the team from the Colangelo era will need to fall in line with whatever game plan Ujiri draws up.
Asked if the organization would have any problem with the decision to do a total rebuild if that was the direction his new general manager wanted to take, Leiweke said they would not.
“This is his decision and his direction and we are going to let our president and GM make those decisions and we will follow him religiously,” Leiweke said.
While Ujiri inherits a team with plenty of issues that need to be sorted, organizational support will not be a hurdle he has to clear.
“He knows he has an unbelievable opportunity to go in whatever direction he deems to be in the best interests of the organization and we will support him,” Leiweke said. “We are not going to put timeline, we’re not going to put annual ‘If you do this we will give you this bonus.’ This may require patience. It’s his decision. If he believes that is what we need to do, then that is what we are going to do.”
With Ujiri shifting his focus toward filling out his front office staff in the days and weeks to come, all signs point to Casey returning. After two seasons with an organization that often looked as though it were spinning into an endless circle of mediocrity, the Raptors now have a new voice. While change always feels fast, those remaining with the franchise will need to adapt to the philosophies of their new leader quickly. In an otherwise uneventful press conference on Tuesday morning the unequivocal support and belief in Ujiri’s as-yet-to-be-revealed vision was the single certainty that emerged.