Masai Ujiri out as Raptors president in shocking move days before start of NBA free agency: 'I just fell to my knees'

Yahoo

6 hours ago

The Toronto Raptors and longtime team president Masai Ujiri have gone their separate ways.
Ujiri was reportedly set to enter the upcoming season in the final year of a five-year contract he signed in 2021. The somewhat shocking move, first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania, comes right before the opening of NBA free agency on Monday and a day after the conclusion of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Charania took to X — formerly Twitter — to break the news on Friday morning.
In a statement, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) president and CEO Keith Pelley praised Ujiri for his leadership and for leading the Raptors to their first and only NBA title in 2019. However, he did not get into specifics as to why the move was made, or why it was made now.
"During his 13 seasons with the Raptors, Masai has helped transform the organization on the court and has been an inspirational leader off it," Pelley wrote.
"He brought an NBA Championship to Toronto and urged us to believe in this city, and ourselves. We are grateful for all he has done and wish him and his family the very best. As we plan for the franchise's future, and its return to the NBA Playoffs, a search for the successor as president of the Raptors, led by CAA Executive Search, will begin immediately."
The team looking to replace Ujiri is a bit of a surprise. Pelley recently fired Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan back in May and indicated that rather than replacing him, Pelley instead would be working closer with Maple Leafs GM Bred Treliving, who will now report to directly to Pelley. It was widely speculated amongst media pundits and insiders that the same structure would be implemented if a similar move was made with the Raptors.
Instead, according to Pelley, general manager Bobby Webster — who reportedly just signed a contract extension — will guide the team into free agency and beyond while Pelley and Co. search for Ujiri's replacement.
"We are confident that the Raptors organization, under the guidance of Bobby [Webster] and his team, is in a great place," Pelley said.
"They have a plan in place for next season and beyond as the team continues its rebuild, and we have confidence in their ability to execute and, ultimately, to excel. We feel the team is in a strong, stable place, and we believe the addition of a new president will continue to move the Raptors forward, towards our next NBA championship."
Many who have covered the team and are in the know, however, aren't so sure Pelley and MLSE will be replacing Ujiri anytime soon — if at all.
The parent company of the Raptors, Maple Leafs, Toronto Argonauts, Toronto FC and others has brought out the axe in recent months, discarding every major team president and cutting nearly 10 per cent of its workforce since Rogers Communications became MLSE majority owner in a deal approved earlier this month worth $4.7 billion.
The firing of Ujiri in particular, especially the strange timing of it, shocked many Raptors fans and media pundits who took to social media to express their disbelief.
As the dust settled on the shock factor and the odd timing of it all, many Raptors fans took to social media to give Ujiri his flowers and praise the man who oversaw, by far, the greatest decade-plus in franchise history.
The Raptors posted an exceptional 545-419 record under Ujiri since 2013-14, which is the fifth-best in the mark in the NBA over that time, according to Sportsnet, and of course helped secure the team's first and only NBA championship in 2019.
The team also hit the 50-wins five times during Ujiri's 12 seasons with the club and qualified for the NBA layoffs in eight of those campaigns. Though success in recent years has been waning, it was an absolutely legendary run for arguably the best executive in the history of Toronto professional sports.
Ujiri was hired as Raptors vice-president and general manager back in 2013 to replace the maligned Bryan Colangelo and immediately helped turn the team into a consistent threat in the Eastern Conference with the team qualifying for the postseasons in seven straight seasons between 2013 and 2020.
Ujiri was promoted to team president in 2016 and Webster took over the GM role in 2017.
Ujiri's most notorious move was the infamous trade in the summer of 2018 that brought superstar Kawhi Leonard to the organization in exchange for franchise legend DeMar DeRozan — essentially paving the way for Toronto's championship run that same season.
It's expected Ujiri will be coveted by plenty of NBA organizations and likely won't be out of work for long if he so chooses.