Everything Masai Ujiri

[The Claw Reborn]

We were banking on Houston getting Harden and Fred having no other suitors so we could get him at a reasonable price. Obviously once Udoka said no to Harden they threw the bank at Fred and the rest is history.

Thank you Jesus.

[golden]

There's basically no risk to rebuilding. You get ownership to buy into a lengthy period of suck and you get rid of your talented players. Like, zero risk. Except like a half decade down the line when you still suck.

Trading assets to be good has inherent in it the risk that you might not be good.

You're forgetting the most important part - the business side.

The risk of tanking for MLSE is losing the bandwagon fan (ticket sales & eyeballs) and accompanying sponsors that jumped on the Raptors popularity after they became a winning franchise. There's a reason why Masai always mentions the word "winning".... he sold that vision to the MLSE board, as an ROI proposition.

[golden]

We were banking on Houston getting Harden and Fred having no other suitors so we could get him at a reasonable price. Obviously once Udoka said no to Harden they threw the bank at Fred and the rest is history.

We were also banking on getting Udoka to coach this team. Ime screwed us twice! lol.

[DanH]

You're forgetting the most important part - the business side.

The risk of tanking for MLSE is losing the bandwagon fan (ticket sales & eyeballs) and accompanying sponsors that jumped on the Raptors popularity after they became a winning franchise. There's a reason why Masai always mentions the word "winning".... he sold that vision to the MLSE board, as an ROI proposition.

Come on. Surely you're on the same page as me here - when we talk about risk in team building, we are not talking about this stuff.

We say things like "you can't risk letting a your free agents walk for nothing," or "you can't risk trading future 1sts for a guy who isn't signed long term or might not improve the team."

If we include your definition, we can just chalk up every single move any front office makes as both very risky and also completely risk averse. It loses all meaning.

[golden]

Come on. Surely you're on the same page as me here - when we talk about risk in team building, we are not talking about this stuff.

We say things like "you can't risk letting a your free agents walk for nothing," or "you can't risk trading future 1sts for a guy who isn't signed long term or might not improve the team."

If we include your definition, we can just chalk up every single move any front office makes as both very risky and also completely risk averse. It loses all meaning.

Every scenario has a unique risk/reward calculation and we could potentially measure success as: (1) winning games & (2) generating revenues... (a) short term & (b) long term. You can't have it all... so you have to prioritize, rank and weight, and not just use the word "risk" indiscriminately or yes, it will lose all meaning.

For example: I have no idea if this is true or not, but some have speculated that MLSE may very well have told Masai he can't deliberately put a tanking product on the court, because they just raised ticket prices and signed lucrative sponsor deals. In that case, the short-term risk of rocking the revenue boat (e.g. ticket sales, advertising, etc..) may be the highest priority for MLSE and the highest risk, which they are averse to. In this scenario, it is easy to see how the franchise's decision-making for on-court product would be driven by being risk-averse... on the business side.

[The Claw Reborn]

Every scenario has a unique risk/reward calculation and we could potentially measure success as: (1) winning games & (2) generating revenues... (a) short term & (b) long term. You can't have it all... so you have to prioritize, rank and weight, and not just use the word "risk" indiscriminately or yes, it will lose all meaning.

For example: I have no idea if this is true or not, but some have speculated that MLSE may very well have told Masai he can't deliberately put a tanking product on the court, because they just raised ticket prices and signed lucrative sponsor deals. In that case, the short-term risk of rocking the revenue boat (e.g. ticket sales, advertising, etc..) may be the highest priority for MLSE and the highest risk, which they are averse to. In this scenario, it is easy to see how the franchise's decision-making for on-court product would be driven by being risk-averse... on the business side.

Then you just got me excited, maybe Rogers too having to shell out millions for their two year stadium renovation, they have authorized Shapiro and Atkins to do whatever it takes to get both Ohtani and Soto. Lol.

[Limited Upside]

For example: I have no idea if this is true or not, but some have speculated that MLSE may very well have told Masai he can't deliberately put a tanking product on the court, because they just raised ticket prices and signed lucrative sponsor deals. In that case, the short-term risk of rocking the revenue boat (e.g. ticket sales, advertising, etc..) may be the highest priority for MLSE and the highest risk, which they are averse to. In this scenario, it is easy to see how the franchise's decision-making for on-court product would be driven by being risk-averse... on the business side.

If this were true, Masai would already be gone. He would resign if his hands were that tied. I wouldn't put it past happening this offseason, in fact, with all the rumours of Ed Rogers pulling "I'm the captain, now" shit on the board, and possibly pushing out Tanenbaum.

If we're talking conspiracies, I wouldn't be surprised if he has already been told "no" by the board a few times in the past year+. If the current power structure and board dynamics were in place when he traded for Kawhi, I bet that move would have been kaiboshed.

[golden]

If this were true, Masai would already be gone. He would resign if his hands were that tied. I wouldn't put it past happening this offseason, in fact, with all the rumours of Ed Rogers pulling "I'm the captain, now" shit on the board, and possibly pushing out Tanenbaum.

If we're talking conspiracies, I wouldn't be surprised if he has already been told "no" by the board a few times in the past year+. If the current power structure and board dynamics were in place when he traded for Kawhi, I bet that move would have been kaiboshed.

Supposedly Rogers recently shot down the idea of the WNBA in Toronto, of which Masai was highly supportive.

Not sure who I'd agree with on that issue, since most (or all) WNBA franchises lose money.

But the point is that, yeah, I don't think Masai & Ed Rogers are on the same page or the best of terms. It's probably only a matter of time before Masai leaves... unless Rogers sells his stake.

[Kagemusha]

Then you just got me excited, maybe Rogers too having to shell out millions for their two year stadium renovation, they have authorized Shapiro and Atkins to do whatever it takes to get both Ohtani and Soto. Lol.

Ohtani. damn!
Would I sacrifice a sharp spike on my phone bills to see Ohtani on the Jays?

[The Claw Reborn]

Ohtani. damn!
Would I sacrifice a sharp spike on my phone bills to see Ohtani on the Jays?

Haha, we are going off topic here so let me plug in some basketball stuff….Jays fans are in a Kawhi free agency watch mode at this present time. There was even a fan who tracked Atkins and Ohtani’s flight path LOL.

Hopefully Ohtani will not Kawhi us and goes to Los Angeles (Dodgers)….damn that would be dejavu and eerie altogether.

[Kagemusha]

Haha, we are going off topic here so let me plug in some basketball stuff….Jays fans are in a Kawhi free agency watch mode at this present time. There was even a fan who tracked Atkins and Ohtani’s flight path LOL.

Hopefully Ohtani will not Kawhi us and goes to Los Angeles (Dodgers)….damn that would be dejavu and eerie altogether.

haha .. pls don't change, Toronto fans.
I like this though. I think bringing in someone like him will have a positive impact on the Raptors somehow.

[The Claw Reborn]

haha .. pls don't change, Toronto fans.
I like this though. I think bringing in someone like him will have a positive impact on the Raptors somehow.

His personal situation is different from Kawhi…but the ball is on his court now.

He already visited the Jays practice facility in Dunedin Florida and if rumors are true had met with both the Jays and Dodgers who it seems are the final two contenders like Kawhi with the Raps vs. the Clippers.

This is a big big deal in Toronto sports if ever he decide to sign with the Jays.

[chris]

Yeah, the vision was clearly for Scottie to be taking primary creator duties, so Fred's value had a ceiling on it they wouldn't go above (which was likely a reasonable ceiling anyway, but it just takes one). Which is also where the Schroder frustration comes from - I don't think taking the ball out of Scottie's hands was what the front office had in mind bringing him in.

Definitely discussions happening internally on whether there is a similar concern with Pascal. OG less so, his value derives almost entirely off ball so that's perfect.

Going to be a fascinating lead up to the trade deadline.

the bold is projecting the front office's intentions and i won't pretend to know what they were, but i certainly agree that fred as secondary playmaker and floor spacer was a great fit on paper and spent the entirety of last season spamming the board to that effect. i think we know where i stand on the schroder thing as i've equally spammed the board on that point this season

[chris]

We were banking on Houston getting Harden and Fred having no other suitors so we could get him at a reasonable price. Obviously once Udoka said no to Harden they threw the bank at Fred and the rest is history.

all's well that ends well

[Kagemusha]

Masai the Playboy : 'I see you Dennis, my man."

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