The Toronto Raptors shut down all the basketball operations according to their president Masai Ujiri. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the entire world to stop, and it is no wonder to see the same in the NBA.
Ujiri stated that health is primary in these moments, with basketball things at the second place. There would be enough time for catching up once this is all over.
“Honestly, to be fair, it’s not where our minds are at right now,” Ujiri said. “This is a crucial time for the world. Those things will come. I’m fine. We’re fine. It’s honestly the last thing on my mind.”
Ujiri is arguably the best operative in the entire league, and his work is known to be systematic and thorough. This is the time of the year, where he usually tracks down talents and makes strategies for the upcoming free agency. However, Coronavirus interrupted all that.
“I’m basically stalking Dr. Fauci like he’s the next NBA draft pick,” he joked, trying to explain that he now scouts the health system, looking for valuable pieces of information which could give him some perspective on the whole pandemic.
Toronto’s president is communicating with all the Raptors’ players on a daily basis, performing conference calls, one-on-one chats, and is trying to keep up with everything going on inside the team. At the moment, the players are mostly at home, with their families.
All of them were in a two-week quarantine after the news broke out that Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell tested positive for COVID-19. That was the mandatory procedure because Raptors faced Jazz on March 9, two days before the NBA suspension. Fortunately, neither of the players caught the virus, but they were obliged to spend 14 days in quarantine even though the results came back negative.
Ujiri spoke about the fact that he misses the NBA, the games, the thrill, the everyday routine. Still, this situation has made him concerned about a lot of things. He also added that he hopes that the season could be saved, but in order to do so, everyone needs to follow the rules.
“We keep working, we keep trying to do our best, but we have to abide by the rules now. This is the time for us to really isolate, and hopefully, in the near future, we can get back to all doing what we love to do.”
When all this is over, there would be a lot of work for Ujiri. His team is second in the East 6.5 games behind the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks. After Kawhi Leonard’s and Danny Green’s departure, the majority of fans and experts believed that the champs wouldn’t be a competitive force in the league, but it turned out to be otherwise.
The Raptors were looking pretty sharp throughout the entire campaign, and if weren’t for the troubles with injuries, they would probably be closer to the Bucks. Once this season ends, Ujiri will have to make some big decisions, as three players have expiring contracts, Ibaka, Gasol and VanVleet. Nick Nurse will also negotiate about new arrangements according to some sources. And eventually, Ujiri himself would settle for a new deal, because his contract expires after the next season.
