The sense is that over and above any contract considerations, Ujiri wants to stay on long enough to return the Raptors to championship contention, something he emphasized during his end-of-season media availability and has reiterated privately. He wants to win again in part because — between the pending free agency of Kawhi Leonard and the incident he had with a police officer working security at Oracle Arena that man-handled him as he tried to join the on-court celebration, triggering an investigation and legal battle, both resolved in Ujiri’s favour — he didn’t get to properly experience his first title.
Source: SportsNet
Source: SportsNet
More on this storyline
Jorge Sierra: Draymond Green passed Oscar Robertson, Dwight Howard and Maurice Cheeks in playoff scoring last night. He’s No. 75 all-time now. He also tied Kawhi Leonard in steals at No. 18. -via Twitter @hoopshype / May 11, 2025
Law Murray: I just expect James Harden to opt out and get a deal that lines up with Kawhi Leonard. And that would make 2027 the big year to really look at something. So I think that’s really their avenue. You’re not you’re not paying three stars. You’re not paying a whole lot for the two that you have. Like I think Harden might get a little bit more money by opting out, but you look at the cap rising and you look at where I don’t think James is going to command so much more that it limits the Clippers that much. I really just feel like right now it’s like optimize what you got and revisit this every offseason. -via YouTube / May 11, 2025
Jorge Sierra: Draymond Green has scored 20.1 percent of his points in the NBA in the playoffs. That’s the highest mark of any All-Star in league history (ahead of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Kawhi Leonard). -via Bluesky / May 6, 2025