Raptors News: Team was just sold, Woj defused, awesome new uniforms leaked

The start of the NBA season is just over a month away. The Toronto Raptors will have their Media Day and begin Training Camp in less than two weeks. Things are about to get very busy, very quickly.

That hardly seems like the optimal time for the sale of a team to go down, but the business side of the NBA often doesn't work alongside the schedule of the season. Matt Ishbia famously took control of the Phoenix Suns two seasons ago just days before the NBA Trade Deadline, then pushed through a massive trade to bring in Kevin Durant. The Minnesota Timberwolves have been grappling with an ownership battle that was happening at the same time as a deep playoff run.

Now the Toronto Raptors join the fray, as it was announced on Wednesday that a significant portion of the team was sold.

An ownership change for the Raptors

For the last 13 years, the Toronto Raptors have operated with three primary owners sharing MLSE -- Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates both the Raptors and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Larry Tanenbaum owned a 25 percent stake and has operated as the team's governor, while the two largest media companies in Canada, Rogers Communications and Bell Canada, each owned 37.5 percent of the group.

That changed on Wednesday, as Rogers signed a deal to purchase all of Bell's ownership stake, giving them a full 75 percent of MLSE. They paid a whopping $3.46 billion for roughly a third of the ownership stake; that suggests those two teams together are worth around $9.2 billion USD.

Broadcast rights for the two media companies are expected to remain the same, with Bell having the option to renew its MLSE broadcast rights and continue showing 50 percent of Raptors games on TSN.

Another interesting wrinkle is that Rogers reportedly has an option available to buy out Tanenbaum's ownership stake in 2026 and take full control of MLSE. Regardless of whether that happens, the influence and power of Rogers and their chairman, Edward Rogers, has grown significantly.

No More Woj Bombs

Also announced Wednesday was the retirement of Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN and journalism. The best basketball newsbreaker in the business is hanging up his blackberry and leaving the Worldwide Leader to pursue a different career path.

Wojnarowski has always been well connected to St. Bonaventure, his alma mater, and he is going to leave ESPN to take a job as the Bonnies' new General Manager, helping to oversee NIL deals and marketing for the team and player. It's a new kind of role that has developed in college basketball over the past few seasons.

Known for his "Woj Bombs" breaking NBA news unexpectedly, he appeared to pull one last one off, telling ESPN of his plans to leave Wednesday morning and then announcing it to the world just hours later.

There will be a significant void at ESPN, one they will almost certainly look to fill as soon as possible. Potential names floated as replacements include Shams Charania (ESPN has the cash and the studio show offerings that The Athletic and Stadium can't match), Jake Fischer (who also is leaving Yahoo; could ESPN divert him quickly enough?), Mike Scotto, Brian Windhorst and Chris Haynes.

Raptors City Uniforms Leaked

Each NBA team will have a custom "City" Edition uniform this season, and while the league usually likes to do a big reveal, it appears that all 30 uniforms were leaked on social media.

That's a bonus for Raptors fans, who get to glory in one of the most amazing jerseys ever conceived: the old Velociraptor mascot doing a Vince Carter dunk.

The Raptors have had some up-and-down jersey designs over the years. The combination of an entire nation's iconography plus the dinosaur motif opens up a lot of options for them; some have been hits, and others misses.

This one is undeniably a hit, bypassing "cutesy" and landing fully on the "awesome" target. The sight of Scottie Barnes or RJ Barrett wearing a dunking Velociraptor while dunking will be exquisite showmanship.

These jerseys are likely to be used during the NBA Cup (formerly the In-Season Tournament) which means at least six appearances for these jerseys. Those games start in November.