The NBA’s Trade Deadline has come and gone, and the Toronto Raptors look much the same as they did one day prior.
Team president Masai Ujiri and GM Bobby Webster elected to run with the group they’ve got this time around, rather than shake things up and risk upending the club’s current momentum.
But there was a much bigger potential dashing of momentum that was rumoured to be on the horizon just recently, with plenty of chatter churning through the rumour mill regarding the New York Knicks’ potential courting of Raptors president Ujiri.
It’s not the first time such rumours have been volleyed around the Association. Count Bobby Webster as, once again, unfazed by them.
“Honestly, it’s not much different than the other typical noise,” Webster told Sportsnet 590’s Lead Off on Friday. “Whether it’s around the trade deadline or during the playoffs, a lot of people have opinions on what we should or shouldn’t do. Obviously it’s a little bit more personal. But it’s not — I mean, we go into the office and we do our job and we laugh and we talk.
“In no way is it a cloud hanging over us or even something that’s the elephant in the room — it’s definitely not that. It’s, more than anything, business as usual. I think that’s probably more a testament to how long we’ve been together, and these types of things don’t bother us.”
The talk was eventually quelled by recent reports of the Knicks targeting agent Leon Rose to take over their basketball operations, leaving the Raptors’ front office intact.
Also intact is Toronto’s current group on the floor, who sit second in the East and look every bit a defending champion. Webster spoke about what impact that positioning had on his deadline strategy.
“We’re always in talks with teams — I think the interesting part of it is you’re trying to walk the fine line of acknowledging what this team has done, respecting what they did last year, understanding the trust and the camaraderie and the chemistry that they’ve built,” Webster told the Lead Off crew.
“That’s more of [what] keeps you up late at night. Do you want to kind of mess with that team feeling? And if you do, the tough part is, you just better make sure it’s right.”
Listen to Raptors GM Bobby Webster’s full interview on Sportsnet 590’s Lead Off via the audio player embedded in this post.
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