With one year left on his contract, the Toronto Raptors and team president Masai Ujiri have agreed to part ways, although one factor is impossible to ignore.
Masai Ujiri is one of the most decorated executives in the NBA, leading the Toronto Raptors out of their disappointing 2000s and into a very successful following decade, capped off with their lone title in 2019.
Under Ujiri’s leadership, Toronto built around Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, before he pulled off one of the most shocking trades in NBA history, sending DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kawhi Leonard. The Raptors won the Finals that year.
With one year left on his contract and extension talks reportedly stalled, the Raptors and Ujiri have agreed to part ways in the most surprising offseason move so far.
Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty ImagesRaptors’ rebuild pushed Ujiri out
After the 2019 season, Leonard would go on to sign with the LA Clippers, and eventually, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, and Pascal Siakam would be traded away. As a result, Ujiri began to rebuild the team, although they have missed the playoffs in each of the last three seasons.
As a result, patience grew thin, and halfhearted reasons for his dismissal have been posited.
“He was going into the final year of his contract with the team,” offered ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“There is a scheduled ownership change that is expected to take place next year. And there was some belief that if the Raptors didn’t have a very good year, Ujiri would be facing possibly a change.”
Toronto finished last season 30-52, and despite interest in landing a marquee player to win now, Ujiri was unable to conduct a trade, resulting in the Raptors selecting Collin Murray-Boyles ninth overall without trading their pick for a star as expected.
“The Raptors were aggressive leading into this draft, trying to either acquire a key player or move up in the draft from their ninth pick. That did not happen,” continued Windhorst. “Somebody else will get an opportunity to do it this summer.”
Even with Windhorst’s explanation, there is one question yet unanswered: why did the Raptors let Ujiri control their draft, likely knowing that he was on the way out?
Inside the Toronto Raptors’ war room
In the 2025 NBA Draft, the Raptors seemed to need a center. The best one on the board, Khaman Maluach, would be picked one selection later by the Phoenix Suns. Instead, the Raptors reached for Murray-Boyles, who plays the same position as young All-Star Scottie Barnes.
It seems that Ujiri was still in control at the draft, although he is the only front office employee let go, and Toronto seems keen on keeping general manager Bobby Webster in place.
Webster was hired in 2013, the same season that Ujiri joined the team. While he is more of a financial mastermind and less of a talent evaluator, it’s safe to assume that he had a massive voice on draft night and will play a much bigger role with the team.
The Raptors have begun searching for Ujiri’s replacement, although Webster, as general manager, can lead the team’s front office for a prolonged period if needed.
While it seems like the Raptors let Ujiri go after he got to make one last critical decision, chances are he was not in control during the first round and was merely still in town so as not to cause a distraction until after the draft.