After getting bounced in the second round of the playoffs to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Toronto Raptors have some decisions to make. They will have four players entering free agency this summer: Kyle Lowry, PJ Tucker, Serge Ibaka, and Patrick Patterson. Lowry has already gone on record saying he wants a to win a ring, and that he will be opting out of his contract. Now, Masai Ujiri, the Raptors GM, is not confident his team will be able to re-sign all four players.
Masai says it’s not “realistic” to expect all 4 free agents (Lowry, Ibaka, Tucker, Patterson) to be back
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) May 9, 2017
The Raptors tried to go all-in one more time in an attempt to finally thwart the Cavaliers, but instead, the team from Canada got bounced in four games. While Lowry is regarded as one of the top point guards in the league, the Raptors are going to have to decide if they want to spend as much as $200 million on his next contract. Even if Toronto offers him a max contract, he still can choose to go to another team, maybe one out west so he doesn’t have to face LeBron James again.
One interesting quote from Ujiri’s exit interview is when he said the Raptors need a culture change.
Blames himself first, but says everyone will be held accountable. “We need a culture reset.”
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) May 9, 2017
After playing as the three seed, the Toronto Raptors seemed like they could possibly be in a position to at least contend with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Eastern Conference title. Now, their best player could be headed out, along with other integral pieces to the team. Toronto is a team to watch this summer.
The full press conference can be seen below, courtesy of the Toronto Raptors Facebook page.
