Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster have proven to be ruthless when it’s called for, creative when necessary, and astute judges of young basketball talent.

The Raptors’ president and general manager have been presented with another opportunity to reconstruct their roster with an eye on reaching the sports pinnacle again, and they have myriad moves — today and in the future — at their disposal. Their track record would lead one to believe they will be successful.

The duo traded away a franchise icon, DeMar DeRozan, last summer for one magical championship season. They moved bits and pieces in a handful of moves that got them a veteran frontcourt that was instrumental to that title run. And one only has to look at the likes of Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet to understand how they can find talent where others have missed it.

The job began in the wee hours of Saturday morning, after Kawhi Leonard blew out of town to join the Los Angeles Clippers and Danny Green followed him shortly after to the Lakers.

Already, there is buzz around the NBA that Ujiri and Webster are at least investigating bold moves to hasten the transformation from the 2019 championship squad to one that will more than keep pace with the Eastern Conference in 2020 and beyond.

Much of that buzz surrounds Toronto’s veterans and their expiring contracts, the willingness of management to make more franchise-shifting deals, and teams looking for quick fixes with deals that make sense.

Kyle Lowry, who became the soul of the team, is on the final year of a contract that, with incentives included, could pay him $35 million (all figures U.S.) but Ujiri will at least investigate what he could get in return. It might end up being another point guard and a prospect in a deal that doesn’t include Toronto having to sweeten the pot or take back long-term salary. Marc Gasol ($26 million on his final contract year) and Serge Ibaka (a $23 million expiring deal) might also be available.

One thing is certain about the Raptors president: He is not overly sentimental and, while he has affinity for the players on his roster, he has show he makes deals with his mind, not his heart. As valuable and important as Lowry, Ibaka and Gasol have been, there is nothing in the team president’s history to think they are untouchable.

Even before the acquisition of Leonard and Green, Ujiri had set the Raptors up financially to be serious players in each of the next two summers. If no trades are consummated this year, Ujiri will have upwards of $90 million in cap space next summer for signings or trades; he built that cushion when he re-signed Lowry and Ibaka to three-year deals, when he dealt DeRozan for an expiring contract, and when he moved three pieces for maybe two seasons of Gasol.

If there is one seemingly untouchable player on the roster, it is Pascal Siakam. Ujiri and Webster will be content to build around his unique and still-developing skills. Nothing they will do this summer or throughout next season will mess with that.

In the very short term, there is little the Raptors can or should do in free agency to fill the roster holes created by Leonard and Green leaving. Ujiri and Webster will have two exceptions to spend — the mid-level exception of about $9 million and $3.6 million in the biannual cap exception — but there are hardly any free agents worth either of those amounts.

If the Raptors had to start the season next fall with a core of Lowry, Siakam, Gasol, Ibaka, OG Anunoby and Norm Powell, with other young players further in the background, that’s still a competitive group and would get a team through a season.

It won’t be nearly the same as a defending NBA championship team centred around Leonard, but it’s not a lottery-bound roster.

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There was a minor move Saturday, hardly earth-shattering or one that will effect the balance of power in the East. The Raptors will add 23-year-old guard Stanley Johnson, a five-year veteran, on a two-year deal with a player option on the second season that’s worth less than the biannual exception.

The salient point, though, is this: Ujiri has proven over his tenure as the Raptors president and general manager that he is capable and willing to make bold moves after working on them stealthily and, given all his options today, there can be no doubt his mind is already working through scenarios that will likely come out of nowhere.

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