Ujiri dismisses Carroll's trust claims, says he should be 'thankful' to Raptors

Former Toronto Raptors small forward DeMarre Carroll spilled an entire can of worms after his bloated contract was dumped on the Brooklyn Nets.

The unhappy Carroll was bluntly candid with his comments on his way out of the door. He said the Raptors played "ISO" instead of "team oriented" which didn't fit with his game. He also said the Raptors had a "lack of trust" which hindered the team.

Raptors president Masai Ujiri responded to Carroll on Wednesday, citing that he would have taken a different approach to the exit given how the Raptors treated him.

"Honestly, I take it with a grain of salt," Ujiri said on TSN Radio 1050. "I don't know that we were not good to him. I think the organization was really good to DeMarre. And those issues that you have inside, honestly, as a general manager of the team I don't see any major issues that I can pinpoint."

"Maybe there wasn't more trust on him," Ujiri added. "I feel that ... in a working place you're going to have ups and downs."

Carroll was signed in 2015 to a luxurious 4-year, $60-million contract to serve as the long-term 3-and-D solution for the Raptors at small forward. However, Carroll was hardly able to stay on the floor after knee injuries derailed his career.

Even after returning from surgery, Carroll wasn't able to recapture the form he showed previously with the Atlanta Hawks. Carroll was far from the shutdown defender the organization expected him to be, and he couldn't be counted upon for any consistent production on offense. He was eventually salary dumped on the Nets along with a future first- and second-round pick.

From Carroll's perspective, he didn't produce at his best since the Raptors' system (which consistently ranks in the bottom five in assists) wasn't conducive to his game. That's also where the supposed lack of trust might have factored in.

But at the same time, the Raptors also gave Carroll a very long leash despite his inability to perform. The organization lavished him with an expensive deal, stuck with him through injury, and stubbornly continued to start him despite having more productive options in Norman Powell and P.J. Tucker available on the bench.

It was simply an unfortunate scenario that didn't work out for either side, as Ujiri explained. The Raptors weren't a great fit for Carroll, while Carroll was never physically fit for the Raptors.

"The best way I can put it is that the expectations were on both sides," Ujiri said. "Did he meet ours? It's questionable. Did we meet his? It's questionable. And I say sometimes the best way to do this is be happy with your next environment and go try to make it work and be thankful for the one you just left. That's how I would approach it."

Or, in other words, don't bite the hand that feeds you. This entire exchange would have been avoided if Carroll just walked away without saying anything.