Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri isn’t avoiding the word “rebuild” like it’s a dirty word or something forbidden to admit. Instead, Ujiri is embracing this Raptors season for what it is.
“I would use the word rebuilding. That’s the right word,” Ujiri said when asked to describe the upcoming season. “I think we have a clear path now going forward. … I think we set a path (when) we went into the draft last year and got a couple of young players and we want to continue to grow and build this team around Scottie (Barnes), who is 23 years old. … So, yes, in sports, you always want to be competitive, and you play to win. We’re going to play to win. But it is a rebuilding team. I think everybody sees that loud and clear.”
Raptors center Jakob Poeltl echoed the front office leader’s thoughts.
“We’re all aware of the situation. We had a massive change in the team since the middle of last season. So we know that we’re starting somewhere in the beginning,” said Poeltl. “We’re definitely capable of winning some games (but) I know that’s not the main focus for us … this has to be a long-term project. I think we all know, we’re not going to go attack the championship this year. It makes no sense for us to try to win every single game as much as we can and sacrifice development in terms of that.”