Ujiri: 'Our No.1 goal is to bring DeMar back'

Taking the Cleveland Cavaliers to six games in the Eastern Conference finals has the Toronto Raptors' players and management eyeing bigger and better things in the near future.

General manager Masai Ujiri made it clear Monday that his offseason goal is to keep his core together - however tricky it may be - so it can make another run next season and beyond. As such, locking up soon-to-be unrestricted free agent DeMar DeRozan is the team's top priority.

DeRozan recently acknowledged his unwavering loyalty to the only club he's known since entering the league in 2009, and that his mindset "has always been Toronto." That level of enthusiasm to stay in The 6ix should make it easier for Ujiri to sign him to a new contract.

"That's the first thing you want to hear," Ujiri said of DeRozan wanting to remain with the Raptors. "And when you hear that - we heard it from Kyle (Lowry) - you like that about your players. And then I have to figure it out, we have to figure it out, what we do. But our No. 1 goal is to bring DeMar back here. And we feel great that he wants to come back to our organization."

The question now becomes how much money Ujiri and the Raptors are willing to throw DeRozan's way. The 26-year-old's expected to earn a max contract of more than $25 million annually.

"We'll have those discussions," the GM said. "Our organization I think has showed that we want to win, but those are, I think, negotiations that we will have with DeMar and his agent. And we'll see where it goes."

Some teams in Toronto's position - having never won a seven-game series prior to this postseason - would be satisfied with going as deep as it did and handing LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers their first two defeats in the playoffs. That's certainly not the case with DeRozan, and Ujiri appreciates his leading scorer's desire to win.

"I spoke to him yesterday and his eyes were still red," Ujiri said. "You can tell. He said he felt empty the next day, which was telling. Speaking to him and Kyle, it almost felt like we had a game to play still. And that game is not there. So there's that hunger. You like that. And then now it's my part to figure it out."