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aird said Sunday. "Ive said that, but this hurts. ...

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aird said Sunday. "Ive said that, but this hurts. This really d

Started by wff0605, 2016/07/09 05:41AM
Latest post: 2016/07/09 05:41AM, Views: 108, Posts: 1
aird said Sunday. "Ive said that, but this hurts. This really d
#1   2016/07/09 05:41AM
wff0605
TORONTO - Masai Ujiri has officially taken the next step, a rather bold one at that, in the inevitable rebuild of his Toronto Raptors. The Raptors announced the completion of a seven-player swap Monday, officially sending rental star Rudy Gay to Sacramento along with the seldom used Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy in exchange for guard Greivis Vasquez, swingman John Salmons and forwards Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes, a deal first reported by Yahoo Sports Sunday evening. In just over six months on the job, the Raptors general manager has quickly made his presence felt, as expected after he inherited Bryan Colangelos roster back in May. It didnt take him long to jettison maligned forward Andrea Bargnani - the face of the Colangelo era - to New York and with Mondays transaction he bid farewell to Gay, his predecessors second marquee mistake. Ujiri has made his statement. This team is now his to build as he sees fit. How he plans to do that still remains unclear, despite adding a pair of necessary, albeit significant transactions to his already impressive resume. "I couldnt tell you where the team is going to go from here," Ujiri said, addressing the local media at the Air Canada Centre for the first time since the trade was made official late Monday afternoon. "Sometimes you have to make a change." "I know people speculate different things on the direction," he said, referring to the elephant in the room; the T-word (tank) that has been hovering over this team like a black cloud long before he accepted the gig in Toronto. "We made a move that creates certainty." Looking at Ujiris resume - his early returns at the helm of the Raptors and his time spent in Denver - theres an obvious trend that has defined his brief, yet mostly successful career as a lead NBA executive. The Raptors GM leaves as little to chance as humanly possible. Time and time again he has taken his teams fate out of the collective hands of his players and into his own. More than anything else he values flexibility. When it appeared Carmelo Anthony was destined to hold the Nuggets hostage in free agency Ujiri flipped the script, waiting patiently and parlaying Denvers best player into more manageable assets. On Sunday he did the same with Gay, a player attached to a contract - like Bargnani - that many believed could not be moved. Although Gay can opt out of the final year of his deal at the end of the season, it seems impossible to imagine him walking away from the $19.3 million hes owed in his option year while hes mired in the worst statistical campaign of his career. Naturally, the Raptors front office had safely just assumed the forward would be on their books next year, eating up a sizeable portion of their payroll, hampering their ability to plan ahead. "That option was tough on our part," Ujiri admitted, citing the uncertainty of Gays contract as a motivating factor behind the deal, it left them in limbo he said. "That option really put us in a tough position to plan." Therein lies Ujiris fundamental goal as he continues to dismantle a disjointed unit; attaining the roster and financial flexibility necessary to build on the fly. He executed it to perfection in Denver, remaining competitive and even improving as a team after the Anthony trade when many believed the Nuggets were poised to bottom out. Ujiri wont use the T-word. He detests the word and what it represents. But he also insists the organization wont "be stuck in no-mans land." He cant have it both ways, not unless he can pull off something remarkable and duplicate the award-winning magic he performed in Denver. Barring a complete tear down - which remains possible but still seems unlikely - the Raptors are still too good to bottom out, as many expect they will. Exchanging Gay and his contract for the Kings quartet was a stroke of genius. Toronto can save roughly $12 million next season if Salmons is bought out for $1 million and the team renounces its rights to Vasquez and Patterson. Still, the move gives us little-to-no indication on the direction Ujiri intends to take. Both trades - Gay and Bargnani - were about ridding the team of expendable pieces that just didnt fit, not dumping star players in an outward attempt to be bad. On the contrary. The absence of Gay, his high usage rates and his inefficiency could and likely will make them a better team. "It just didnt work out," Ujiri said of Gays 10-month tenure in Toronto. "I think it was just a chemistry [issue] with the team. I think everybody saw there was no sync there." So now we wait. We wait for Ujiris next move and the consensus around the team, around the league, is that it wont be long. Gay will not be the last domino to fall and the GMs subsequent moves should, in theory, tip his hand. Everyone on this roster is available, at the right price. Would Ujiri be willing to listen to offers for Jonas Valanciunas? Is DeMar DeRozan safe now that the similar Gay has been dealt, or do you sell high on what appears to be an emerging star at his position? Is Kyle Lowry the next to go, as most expect? And what of Amir Johnson, who should be a valuable trade chip as the deadline approaches? In moving Gay, and Bargnani, Ujiri has already done most of the heavy lifting. Now the Raptors GM has options, and he wouldnt have it any other way. Sean Lee Jersey . The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. . The Swede became the first golfer to win the PGA Tours FedEx Cup and European Tours Race to Dubai in the same season. 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SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Chris Kirk knew he was doing enough right Sunday at Sea Island to win a tournament that means so much to him. He just didnt realize it would take something that went so wrong for Briny Baird. Tied for the lead in the McGladrey Classic, Kirk was on the other side of the 18th fairway trying to envision an approach that would cover the flag and set up a birdie chance for the win. Those plans changed when Baird, with the ball below his feet in a fairway bunker, topped a 4-iron and watched his ball roll 90 yards and into a hazard. Kirk played for par, closed with a 4-under 66 for a one-shot victory, and became the first player from Sea Island to win the McGladrey Classic -- even if the 28-year-old moved to Atlanta a few months ago after six years in this tiny slice of paradise. He received the trophy from tournament host Davis Love III, his hero when he first took the game seriously. "To come here to Sea Island, which is a place that I love and cherish so much, and Daviss tournament, it just an unbelievable thing," Kirk said. "Davis was kind of my guy when I was 12 and 13, really starting to play golf. He was my favourite player, and hes turned from being my idol to sort of a mentor and good friend. So Im a very lucky person to be in that situation, and to win his tournament really means a lot to me." The victory sends Kirk to the Masters for the first time, a tournament that means even more. His joy was tempered slightly by the way the tournament finished. "It hurt to do what I did on the last hole," Baird said. Baird is now 0-for-365 in his PGA Tour career, and it looked for the longest time that he finally would win. Baird went from a two-shot deficit to a one-shot lead in two holes on the back nine, and he was on the verge of seizing control on the par-5 15th. Baird hit his approach to 40 feet for a chance at eagle. Kirk was between clubs and pulled his hybrid into the water left of the green, and then he slammed his wedge into the turf when he chipped weakly, leaving him a long putt for par. It looked as if Baird would lead by two shots, maybe three, with three holes to play. Instead, he ran his eagle putt 4 feet by the cup and three-putted for par, and Kirk holed his 20-foot par putt to stay only one shot behind. "That kept me in it," Kirk said. He caught Baird with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole, setting up one last surprise on a back nine filled with them. Tim Clark closed with a 62 and was on the practice range, holding out slim hope for a playoff if Kirk and Baird made bogey on the 18th. Only one oof them faltered, and it was shocking.dddddddddddd Baird had a tough lie in the sand, and he felt his left foot slip. Even so, he felt he should have been able to pull off the shot. It wasnt even close. Baird struggled with his swing most of the day, and he told his caddie he didnt feel comfortable with it going down the 18th. "You mix that with nerves, and its a recipe for disaster," Baird said. Kirk finished at 14-under 266, and his last tournament of 2013 came with plenty of perks -- the biggest a trip to Augusta National, which he only has played when Georgia alumni used to invited the golf team over once a year. He also gets into the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua to start 2014. And his parents get a new photo for their mantle. The one they have is from a decade ago, when Kirk finished his sophomore year in high school and played in the Canon Cup north of Chicago. It was the first time he met Love, and his parents still have a photo of their son with sideburns and braces. "Its a pretty funny picture now," Kirk said. Now he can give them a photo of Kirk and Love posing with the trophy on the 18th green of the Seaside course at Sea Island, where Kirk had lived for the last six years until moving back to Atlanta because his wife is due next month with their second child. He still has his home at Sea Island, and it felt like the home with a large gallery waiting for him around the 18th green. It was the first time Kirk could recall such a large gallery cheering for him. If there was any consolation for Baird, it was money, of all things. The 41-year-old from Miami has said for years that he would rather have a season full of strong finishes that gets him into the Tour Championship than one win and nothing else. Even this week, he said tournament golf is as much about money than trophies. He earned $484,000 for his tie for second, and the 25-foot bogey putt was worth $220,000. Baird was playing this year on a major medical extension from having surgery on both shoulders in 2012, and the money he earned Sunday was enough for him to keep his card for the rest of the season. It was a small consolation. "Its not all about winning," Baird said Sunday. "Ive said that, but this hurts. This really does. This is very disappointing." Divots: This was the sixth time Baird has been runner-up. He has gone the longest without winning among players who have their PGA Tour cards. ... All four tournaments since the McGladrey Classic began in 2010 have been decided by no more than one shot. ... The fall portion of the PGA Tour season ends next week in Mexico. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '


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