Masai Ujiri Provides Some Clarity on Raptors' Jeff Dowtin Jr. Decision

The Toronto Raptors decision not to convert Jeff Dowtin Jr. remains confusing despite Masai Ujiri's explanation Friday

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been almost a month now since the Toronto Raptors made the decision not to convert Jeff Dowtin Jr’s contract and still nothing seems to be adding up.

What’s clear now is Toronto’s decision came down to Will Barton or Dowtin for what essentially was one final playoff spot, Raptors president and vice chairman Masai Ujiri said.

“We needed maybe more experience … and also we knew Jeff is going to be part of this team in the future,” he continued.

And yet, there seems to be an incongruence with the way Ujiri discussed the Dowtin decision and his public criticism of former head coach Nick Nurse for not playing young players enough.

“I think one of the things we talked about was maybe utilizing some of these (young) players a little bit more,” Ujiri said regarding the team’s recent lack of development under Nurse. “Like giving them room to actually show if they have or if they don’t have (it). I think we didn’t do so well with that this year.”

The one example of Toronto having development success this season was with Dowtin who, by the end of the year, had earned credibility as the Raptors’ backup point guard. He averaged 15 minutes per game in his final 11 games with the Raptors and was consistently praised as “solid” by Nurse.

Barton, meanwhile, floundered for the better part of his brief Toronto tenure, shooting just 28% from the floor in his first 12 games with the Raptors before nailing six three-pointers in a game against Charlotte. He did play in Toronto’s lone play-in game, providing two unremarkable minutes off the bench.

Dowtin will be back next season, Ujiri said, and the was never publicly critical of Toronto’s decision not to convert his contract to a standard deal. But even the clarity Ujiri provided Friday doesn’t quite add up. As he admitted, it was ultimately a situation that was not handled in the best way possible.

Further Reading

Nick Nurse just the first of "big changes" ahead for the Raptors, Masai Ujiri says

O.G. Anunoby says the right things, but Raptors face decision with complicated extension

Scottie Barnes acknowledges he can do better this summer as Raptors key on his development