TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors had enough excitement last week to last for months, maybe years.

Parting ways with long-time president Masai Ujiri on Friday was a bombshell, even if the conditions that led to Ujiri leaving the Raptors after 13 year with one year left on his contract had been percolating almost from the moment he signed his five-year contract back in the summer of 2021.

Conversely, the start of free agency was pretty quiet around the team’s offices at the OVO Athletic Centre — but with all that happened last week and all that it portends, having a slow day might not be the worst thing.

As had been predicted, the Raptors, who entered free agency with three available rosters spots and about $6 million of space under the $187.9-million luxury tax threshold, weren’t major players after teams were able to sign free agents as of 6 p.m. ET on Monday.

They weren’t even minor players, no offence to Garrett Temple, who – as had been predicted – signed a veteran minimum deal with Toronto, the team’s only transaction on the opening day of free agency. The 39-year-old will return for his 16th NBA season and third with the Raptors serving as a living, breathing, good example for youngsters on the roster.

The Raptors have some smaller moves in the works, but likely only one roster spot to play with given that it’s likely that Jamison Battle, whose $1.96-million guarantee for next season takes effect on July 10, will return. Battle led them in three-point shooting last season after making the team as an undrafted free agent. Given how short the Raptors are on quality shooting, it feels safe to pencil in Battle for a roster spot also.

That leaves one roster spot for one minimum contract. There’s every possibility the Raptors leave the spot open and let someone out of the AJ Lawson, Colin Castleton, and Jared Rhoden crowd — plus whomever might emerge out summer league — earn it in training camp.

None of this lack of activity should be all that surprising.

With Ujiri gone and the sense of urgency provided by him entering the final year of his contract removed, there seems to be a little more leeway to take a deep breath and be objective about where the Raptors actually stand.

It was interesting that when MLSE president Keith Pelley was announcing Ujiri was being let go, he made a point of saying that the Raptors are “in the middle of a rebuild” — which was one of the reasons he gave for the need to immediately start searching for a new president, presumably because someone needs to see it through.

Similarly, when general manager Bobby Webster spoke after the first round of the draft was concluded, he described the Raptors as still being in “talent-acquisition mode.”

Well, of course. A team that has won 25 and 30 games the past two seasons better be looking for talent.

But at what pace and what cost?

According to league sources, most of the discussions the Raptors were involved with dated back a month ago, and involved trading the No. 9-overall pick in the draft, along with salary — which why RJ Barrett’s name was often mentioned — for an impact player. The Raptors talked to Boston about Derrick White, Memphis about Desmond Bane and Phoenix about Kevin Durant. They price for Bane (four first-round picks and a pick swap) was too steep; the Raptors didn’t want to part with Jakob Poeltl in a Durant deal and the Celtics’ White would have commanded a price commensurate with Bane, if not more.

Once the draft passed, it was clear the roster was relatively set, other than whatever tweaks were made with the final spots.

For the moment, the Raptors’ focus is more internal, with the team content to get its roster to training camp, assess what the whole mix looks like with the addition of Brandon Ingram, who hasn’t played since being acquired in February, and better judge whether this group can continue to build on the momentum they finished last season with.

Will it be a fresh set of eyes making those decisions in the form of a new president?

Or will it be Webster promoted to the president’s role, and empowered to build an organization as he sees fit, which could also be a fresh take.

An example of how Ujiri and Webster differed: it was Ujiri who was resistant to signing Pascal Siakam to extension in the season prior to him being traded to the Indiana Pacers in January of 2024. Ujiri didn’t want the risk of a long-term deal on his books for a player who he was no longer sure was a fit with Scottie Barnes’ timeline.  An injury to Siakam after he signed, or even just a downturn in performance, would have left the Raptors in a difficult situation.

But not signing him also meant that they had less control over where Siakam could be traded as he headed into the final year of his contract, likely less leverage for extracting a top price.

Webster was in favour of extending Siakam, which would have given the Raptors more control in the trade market if they wanted to go that route as they would be trading a player under team control for multiple years.

Each approach had pros and cons, but it only illustrates that just because Webster and Ujiri worked so closely for so long, it doesn’t mean that Webster’s decision-making process will simply be a reprise of what his old boss might have done.

There is a feeling within the Raptors organization that Webster wants the president’s job now that it’s available. Him being included in the interview process is not a courtesy, but something Webster wants.

He’s been comfortably in his role as second-in-command in the Raptors front office, but after 13 years there is a sense that he’s ready for a challenge and moving to the president’s role is a natural progression.

He’s thought of highly within MLSE and will get serious consideration, per sources, even if the executive search is ongoing.

All well and good. But as the Raptors are trying to finalize their front-office situation, other teams are adding to and finalizing their rosters.

The Eastern Conference — thought to be ‘wide open’ given injuries to the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, the Bucks’ Damian Lillard and the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton that are expected to keep them out of action for most, if not all, of 2025-26 — has been busy with teams sensing an opportunity.

Several of the 10 teams that finished ahead of the 11th-place Raptors have made significant moves.

The Atlanta Hawks, who finished eighth, 10 games ahead of Toronto, added Kristaps Porzingis in trade and signed two useful free agents in Canadian national teamer Nickeil Alexander-Walker (four years and $62 million, a nice pay day for the late bloomer) as a two-way wing and Kevin Huerter, one of the best shooters available.

The Orlando Magic, which finished seventh, started the transaction season off by trading for Bane but made a nice pick in adding a quality back-up point guard in Tyus Jones, while the sixth-place Pistons added Caris LeVert, although that was because their free-agent sharpshooter Malik Beasley was under federal investigation for being involved in betting on NBA games. LeVert may not be an upgrade, but he helps the Pistons hold their ground. The Knicks are expected to sign gunner Jordan Clarkson after he was bought out by the Jazz and the Cavaliers — likely the Eastern Conference favourites — offset the loss of Ty Jerome with the addition of Lonzo Ball earlier in the week.

Not exactly the kind of moves that will cause anyone to drop their phone in astonishment, but teams ahead of the Raptors tried to improve themselves or at least stay steady.

For the Raptors, standing pat wasn’t so much strategy as a function of building out their roster with four promising rookies last season, adding Ingram at the trade deadline and drafting two more rookies — Collin Murray-Boyles and Alijah Martin — that will likely be on the roster just the other day.

The Raptors roster is, for the most part, full. They have an opening at president, though, so now we wait.