Start With How You Win: Business Strategy Before You Hire

So let's talk about my Raptors in twenty twenty-one.

Masai Ujiri and his front office had a very clear idea of how they wanted to win: long, athletic, relentless on defense.

At one point, the roster didn't have a single player taller than six foot nine, and Nick Nurse could put out lineups where everyone was at least six seven.

Why does that matter? Because offenses love the pick and roll.

You set a screen, the defenders get tangled up, and suddenly your guard has a slow big man on him, or your big man has a small guard.

That mismatch is the whole point.

But if all five of your players are long enough to guard anybody, you just switch.

The screen buys you nothing.

The play the other team spent all week practicing doesn't work.

That's a strategy.

And look what it did to hiring.

That summer, they drafted Scottie Barnes fourth overall.

Six foot seven, a wingspan over seven foot two, and a pre-draft profile full of words like length, versatility, and effort.

One reporter covering the team summed up the organization in three words: versatility, length, hustle.

See the chain? The strategy was switch everything.

That strategy needs certain values: effort every possession, and nobody too proud to guard the other team's best player.

Those values shape the role, and the role tells you the competencies.

Guard multiple positions.

Talk on every switch.

Now, the honest part.

That roster was light on play-making.

Plenty of length, not enough guys who could run the offense.

A year later, they finished ninth and lost in the play-in.

Strategy tells you what you need.

It also tells you what you're giving up.