Ujiri: Raptors shouldn't shy away from LeBron, 'Our job is to beat him'

When the Cleveland Cavaliers were manhandling the Toronto Raptors in the second round of the playoffs en route to a clean sweep, All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry openly praised the efforts of LeBron James, essentially waving the white flag before the series was officially over.

Raptors president Masai Ujiri has felt James' wrath the past two years, and is aware of how long his reign of dominance over the Eastern Conference has been. Does that mean he wants his players bowing to The King and not believing they truly have a chance to dethrone him?

Not on his watch.

"Our job is to beat him," Ujiri recently told The Vertical's Michael Lee. "You have to figure it out. If not, then go play in some other league or something. Go play in Greece. Our jobs, and the jobs of the players, (are) to figure out how to beat those guys. If not, you might as well give them the championship before it starts.

"I understand how good he is and I understand how good those teams are, but those things end. At some point, somewhere, somehow, we as leaders of our group, we have to figure out a way and motivate our players and give them the confidence to go out there and compete."

The last time a James-led roster wasn't in the Finals was 2010, with the four-time MVP advancing to the big dance a staggering seven straight times since. Toronto took two games against Cleveland in the 2016 Eastern Conference finals, yet followed that up last season with three blowout losses before dropping out in four.

Regardless of what comes of the Kyrie Irving trade demand, Cleveland should still be in prime position to reach another Finals, and with so many elite names from the East being moved out West through trades and free agency, there will be fewer roadblocks and speed bumps along the way.

The Raptors' depth has been hit hard this summer with Cory Joseph, DeMarre Carroll, and Patrick Patterson - all of whom ranked in the top eight in minutes played on the roster - no longer around. A full-blown rebuild isn't transpiring north of the border, though, because the key cogs are still intact, and as long as that's the case, Toronto will put its best foot forward and put up a fight as best it can.

"I can’t run and hide under the table just because they tell me those (James-led) teams are that good," Ujiri said. "We want to freaking beat them. That’s the point of the league."