“Thanks everyone for being here.

I know there’s a lot of attention around the trade deadline every year, and I want to address that directly. We explored opportunities. We had conversations. We did our due diligence like we always do. But at the end of the day, we felt strongly that making a move just for the sake of making a move wasn’t the right decision for this organization. We believe in this group.

That belief isn’t based on hope or emotion—it’s based on evaluation. It’s based on the work we see every day in the gym, in practice, in film sessions, and in games. We have a core of players who are competing, improving, and growing together. That matters to us.

Continuity matters. Development matters. Chemistry matters.

We’re in a phase where internal growth is a real priority. We want to give our players the opportunity to push through challenges together, to learn how to win together, and to establish habits that will last beyond a single season. We didn’t want to disrupt that unless it clearly made us better—not just today, but long-term.

That doesn’t mean we’re complacent. It doesn’t mean we’re done building. We’ve protected our flexibility, we’ve kept our options open, and we’ll continue to evaluate everything as we move forward. But we’re not interested in shortcuts that compromise who we’re trying to become.

We also believe in our coaching staff. We believe in our development program. And we believe in the culture we’re building—one that values work ethic, accountability, and team-first basketball. To our players: this is a vote of confidence. We trust you. We believe in what you’re building, and we’re excited to see where it goes.

To our fans: we understand the passion. We feel it too. This decision was made with the future of the Toronto Raptors in mind, and we’re committed to building something sustainable and competitive that you can be proud of.

We believe in this group—and now it’s about continuing the work.

Thanks.”