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Toronto Raptors general manager, Masai Ujiri, knows that he took a risk by swapping the DeMar DeRozan franchise icon against the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard. Ujiri, however, hopes his bet will pay off in a championship for the Raptors.
Ujiri spoke to the media in Toronto this afternoon and discussed Wednesday's trade with DeRozan, center Jakob Poeltl and a protected first-round pick. 2019 in San Antonio for Leonard and veteran guard Danny Green.
"On paper, we think we have a team that can compete in the East and hope to compete for a championship in this league. , is to compete for the championships, "said Ujiri. "We have been doing this for how many years you can not continue to do the same thing over and over again."
"At this point we have reached the level where this opportunity came to us, and we had to jump on it. "
Leonard was not at Friday The Spurs star was limited to nine games in 2017-18 due to a persistent injury to the right quadriceps and announced at the beginning of the offseason
"Without the medical drama, you have no chance to talk to a player like this one: he would always be in San Antonio, Ujiri says:
Since his transfer to Toronto – a move that seemed to please no player – concerns have been raised as to whether Leonard would stay with the Raptors long term. aware of, but is also something that he still has to meet with Leonard or his representatives
"He (Kawhi) did not express that he did not want to play in Canada with me "said Ujiri. "I think there's a lot to sell here: our team, our culture, our city, our property.We have everything here except a championship, IMHO."
"That's my job. That's why I'm in this seat. To try to understand this part. I had conversations with Kawhi, his agent and his uncle and everything went well. I am looking forward to meeting them.
The initially positive vibrations between the player and the team were tweeted on the Raptors' social media account Friday night after Leonard's arrival in Toronto. The post included a photo of Leonard with Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster
Welcome to the North pic.twitter.com/FWy6huVI9l
– Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) July 20, 2018 [19659015] [ad_2]
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