Masai Ujiri: Raptors’ Damian Lillard Interest Was ‘Sensationalized’ amid Trade Rumors

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Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri told reporters on Monday that the team’s interest in Damian Lillard was “sensationalized” and that they have been “aggressive” in trade talks but that it “takes two to make a deal.”

“The right one will come,” he added regarding a potential trade in the future. “I think we’ve shown in the past that we can do that”

Instead, the Raptors head into the 2023-24 season with an uncertain future.

Building around up-and-coming star Scottie Barnes is a lock. But the Raptors already lost veteran point guard Fred VanVleet in free agency, and next summer Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. will be free agents and OG Anunoby could also hit free agency if he declines his player option, as expected.

It’s hard to imagine the Raptors letting Siakam walk without getting anything in return, and Anunoby remains the team’s best trade chip given his talent but redundancy alongside Barnes, a similar but arguably more talented player.

That always made them a potential Lillard suitor, with Anuoby and draft capital giving them a competitive potential package (although the Milwaukee Bucks ultimately won the Dame sweepstakes). A big three of Lillard, Siakam and Barnes would have been intriguing, especially if Siakam eventually committed to a long-term extension.

Ujiri said he would like to see Siakam return, though he also took the opportunity to criticize the team’s style of play from last season.

“We do believe in Pascal. We do believe that a lot of our players didn’t play the right way last year, and we want to see them play the right way,” he told reporters. “I said that we were selfish. I’m not running away from that. We were selfish and we did not play the right way. So, let us see it when we play the right way.”

Siakam pushed back on that sentiment.

“I’ll speak for me, personally—I’ve never been a selfish player in my life, always played the game the right way, and that’s from the first time I started playing basketball,” he told reporters. “I’ve always been a team player. All the things that I do on the basketball court is about our team, and I’ve always done that my whole career.”

It sounds, at least from the outside, that there might be some underlying tensions in Toronto. Since winning the NBA Finals in the 2018-19 season, the Raptors have won just one playoff series in four years and only reached the postseason twice.

It wouldn’t be shocking if they found themselves at the center of the rumor mill before February’s trade deadline, especially if they get off to a slow start this season.