Don't bet on Masai Ujiri bailing on Raptors despite interest from Atlanta Hawks
He's invested in the rebuild and in returning his staff in Toronto.
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The Toronto Raptors aren’t often big players in the NBA’s rumour mill, but once in a while the spotlight shines on them.
Right now is one of those times, with rumours once again connecting the franchise to superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and another popping up that team president Masai Ujiri is being courted by the Atlanta Hawks.
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Don't bet on Masai Ujiri bailing on Raptors despite interest from Atlanta Hawks Back to video
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Long-time NBA insider Marc Stein reported on his Substack ‘The Stein Line’ Wednesday: “The Atlanta Hawks have interest in trying to hire Toronto’s Masai Ujiri as their new president of basketball operations, league sources tell The Stein Line.
“It was not immediately clear, league sources say, what sort of shot Atlanta has at prizing Ujiri away from the Raptors.”
The Hawks fired ex-Raptor Landry Fields as general manager last month and hired Onsi Saleh as his replacement. Saleh, who was born in Texas but grew up in Edmonton and went to the University of Alberta, has a background in basketball strategy and the team is looking for an experienced president to run all operations.
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Ujiri certainly would fit the bill and, while his latest contract extension with the Raptors has been reported by Sportsnet to end after next season, it seems highly unlikely that he would leave for anything less than an absolutely plum job, if at all.
That’s not Atlanta, a franchise that has missed the playoffs two straight years, has two conference final appearances and has not reached the NBA Finals since 1971.
Asked by Postmedia at his season-ending media availability in April about looming ownership changes at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (Rogers Communications is in the process of closing its buyout of Bell Canada’s ownership stake and co-owner Larry Tanenbaum can be bought out in the near future, per multiple reports), Ujiri said he had no concerns.
“I don’t see anything (changing),” Ujiri said. “It’s unique that people kind of see it as new, but it’s almost kind of the same being that we have had Edward Rogers and Tony (Staffieri, CEO of Rogers) and these guys for how many years I’ve been here, so no relationships have changed.
“Everything has been normal. I think having a unique CEO like Keith (Pelley, the new MLSE boss), like that, really takes on the leadership and really communicates with all the team and sees the growth of all the teams.
“It’s different in some kind of way, but it’s what you want in the organization. So I’ve had the same relationships with all these people. Keith was new, but it’s honestly been great, but it’s been the same relationship and being the same way and the same communication, which I am happy about.”
Teams have sought out Ujiri in the past. The Washington Wizards made a pitch that was reported by former NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski seemingly minutes after the Ujiri-built Raptors won the 2019 NBA title.
In 2020, just before the start of the pandemic, Wojnarowski reported again that New York Knicks owner James Dolan’s “dream” had been to land Ujiri. Howard Beck, then of Bleacher Report, said Dolan was “enamoured” with Ujiri and SNY’s Ian Begley said people within the organization were “obsessed” with him.
Ujiri ended up re-signing with the Raptors in August of 2021 days after the team surprisingly drafted Scottie Barnes fourth overall, a move that has aged extremely well.
Both Washington and New York pivoted and made hires that have proven wise to lead their franchises (though Washington is in the building stage).
Ujiri has since overseen a rebuild of the franchise for the first time since his hiring in 2013, with stalwarts Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby dealt away and Fred VanVleet departing via free agency. The team has struggled through two rough seasons but accelerated the pace of the rebuild by trading for former all-star Brandon Ingram in February and hopes to add another key piece with the ninth pick of next month’s NBA draft.
It has been well-reported that Edward Rogers had some questions about giving Ujiri a significant bump last time around, but multiple sources have told Postmedia that any friction between the two has been overstated and it was just “business.”
Ujiri has talked constantly of his desire to bring another championship to Toronto.
“My expectations for next season is we continue to grow. But the end goal for me is how do we win a championship? That’s always going to be the end goal and how do you build and grow towards that,” he said in April.
He also has discussed Toronto’s competitive advantages.
“We are the only team that’s outside the United States in the NBA and I believe it’s a unique opportunity, and it’s going to be an incredibly unique opportunity in the years to come,” he said last month.
Finally, Ujiri didn’t sound like someone with one foot out the door when he added he was working on new deals for the rest of his management team, which is led by general manager Bobby Webster and assistant general manager Dan Tolzman.
“I’m working on it now. All of them. Everybody. It’s a focus for me,” Ujiri said.
As for the Giannis intrigue? Ujiri has pursued him plenty of times in the past and would love to land the Bucks superstar, but it’s hard to see the Raptors coming up with a package better than the ones other teams can offer now that Toronto fell to ninth in the draft.
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