Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors are not only trying to fight for a playoff spot in the crowded Eastern Conference, but they’re doing so in the Atlantic Division, which features five teams that could all make it to the postseason. Despite their poor form of late, Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics are right in the thick of things.
While Ainge played a pivotal role in turning the Celtics into a champion in 2008, all the while fleecing the Brooklyn Nets in order to grab Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, he has come under fire for his inaction on the trade market.
While Boston has had a haul of draft picks that would make any rebuilding team jealous over the last few seasons, they have been unable to get over the hump in the postseason. Rather than look at his own inability to convert those picks into superstar players via trade, Ainge and Celtics leadership attributed the inactivity to…Kyrie Irving leaving. For some reason.
Rather than twiddling his thumbs and hoping a roster that is fraying at the seams can keep contending for a playoff spot, Ujiri needs to put his head down and shake things up somehow in the name of improving this team.
Raptors president Masai Ujiri needs to be aggressive, unlike Danny Ainge
The Raptors might have six players scoring 13 points per game or more this year, but that fact overshadows how key reserves like Stanley Johnson, Terence Davis, and Aron Baynes are giving Toronto next to nothing on the offensive end. That reality, coupled with Toronto’s ineptitude on the glass, should be enough to motivate Ujiri to make a trade.
Ujiri being passive at the deadline will not only harm the Raptors in the short-term, but it will gave long-term implications. The roster will look much different next year, as Kyle Lowry could leave in free agency and Norman Powell is likely not picking up his player option. Losing them for nothing in the offseason could be a crippling blow to Toronto’s morale and future.
While Ainge and the Celtics don’t have the same tax-related and geographical advantages other contenders do, but he can lean on the history of the franchise and the chance to play alongside the dynamic duo of Beal and Tatum.
Considering the challenges that normally come with luring free agents to Canada, Ujiri might have an even tougher time luring stars to come to the Raptors if he doesn’t set them up for success at the deadline.
If Ujiri sits on his hands and does nothing, not only might he fail to get anything back for two players in Lowry and Powell that could leave in free agency, but he could be stuck with a roster that lacks depth in the backcourt and any sort of interior rebounding. Hoarding assets hasn’t worked for Ainge, and Ujiri shouldn’t follow suit.