Masai Ujiri came in vowing to change the culture around the Raptors and his first significant free agent signing has accomplished that.
The Raptors have agreed to terms on a two-year deal with former Indiana Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough, a 6-foot-9 big man who has made a name for himself as one of the grittiest players in the NBA.
Terms of the deal were not made public but Toronto, hamstrung by arcane NBA salary cap rules, would be getting the four-year veteran at a relative bargain of about $3 million per year.
Hansbrough will significantly increase Toronto’s toughness quotient; he is one of the hardest competitors in the league, often criticized for being close to over-the-top with his physical play.
He was involved in a contentious incident with rookie Toronto centre Jonas Valanciunas during a game last season and will now be playing alongside him in the Raptors front court.
When Ujiri took over from Bryan Colangelo last month, he said he wanted to change the perception of the Raptors around the league.
Toronto has missed the playoffs for the past five seasons — the longest drought in the franchise’s 18-year history — and has been derided as one of the softest teams in the league.
Hansbrough, and gritty backup point guard and free agent signing Julyan Stone, both bring a toughness that Ujiri sought.
Neither signing will be official until the league’s moratorium on free agent moves and trades is lifted Wednesday after final salary cap and tax threshold numbers are released.
With a payroll just creeping over the anticipated tax level, Toronto would have only had a bit more than $3 million to split on the combined salaries of Hansbrough and Stone.
Another bit was added officially on Tuesday, just a day before the moratorium is lifted on free agent signings and trades and just three days before the summer league season is set to begin.
Nick Nurse, who guided the Rio Grande Valley Vipers to the D League championship last season, was added to Dwane Casey’s staff, the first of what is expected to be three or four additions.
Other fine-tuning of the roster or blowing it up — Ujiri has given no true indication which way he is leaning — will begin Wednesday when the trade of Andrea Bargnani to the New York Knicks becomes official.
The Raptors are getting back Steve Novak to play for them, assets in Marcus Camby and Quentin Richardson they can only hope to turn into something more worthwhile, and three future draft picks that have no value today whatsoever.
And it will be up to Ujiri and his new brain trust to figure out where to go from here.
He has put together what seems like a solid staff in executive vice-president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman, hired away from Milwaukee; director of scouting Dan Tolzman, poached from the Denver Nuggets and salary capologist Bobby Websteras the vice-president basketball management and strategy, plucked from the NBA head office in New York.
They all come with impressive resumes and replace a group that had little success over the past five years but the questions are: What can they do? And how quickly can they do it?
The Hansbrough signing came as a surprise and goes to Ujiri’s management style of keeping things under wraps until they are close to done. He was able to get the combative forward at what will be considered a bargain price compared to money other teams might have had to offer.
The new group needs to come to a consensus on what to do with Camby — the veteran would rather be moved or set free to join a legitimate contender — and it’s impossible to see how Richardson fits at any level.
That will mean some creative decision-making is needed, either to package them for draft picks or couple them with players currently under contract to upgrade the roster.
