When Los Angeles Lakers newcomer LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers a few months back, he pretty much blew the entire Eastern Conference wide open. Every single team in the East — except for the Cleveland Cavaliers, of course, but including the Raptors — got a significant boost in their Playoffs hopes, and to say that they were happy to see James go would probably be an understatement.
Toronto Raptors team president Masai Ujiri pretty much summed up the sentiments of the entire conference in his recent guesting in NBA TV's Open Court. The 48-year-old literally threw up his arms in celebration when asked to share his thoughts on the former King of the East's recent departure.
The East was already widely considered as the weaker conference for quite some time now, and LeBron's move out West made the East even less competitive. No one in the conference is complaining though (again, save for James' former team), and as proven by Ujiri, LeBron's exodus brings forth nothing but delight for them.
For his part, Ujiri and his Raptors have been tirelessly attempting to address a seemingly unsolvable puzzle in LeBron James. Last season, Toronto set a franchise record for most wins in the regular season. Nonetheless, this came to absolutely nothing when they unceremoniously fell to LeBron and the Cavs in the second round of the Playoffs.
It has been a busy summer for Ujiri and his office, to say the least, and they will be entering the new season with a team that has been overhauled form the top down. Not having to deal with James in the Playoffs is evidently something that has brought the under-fire GM over the moon.
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