Masai Ujiri out as Toronto Raptors president in stunning move by MLSE ownership

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The man who did the seemingly impossible — lead the Toronto Raptors to an NBA title — is out.

Masai Ujiri, the architect of the 2019 NBA champions, mutually agreed with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to part ways ahead of the final year of his most recent contract extension.

The team confirmed the news in an official press release on Friday morning before MLSE president Keith Pelley spoke at a media conference.

Ujiri had been serving as the team’s president and vice chairman.

In addition to the championship, Ujiri and his staff helped lead the Raptors to unprecedented heights prior to the pandemic. Only three franchises won more regular-season games than the Raptors from 2012-13 to 2019-20 and a franchise that had only one playoff series victory before Ujiri took over from Bryan Colangelo in May of 2013 won nine playoff series over the years.

Things have not been as rosy since the NBA returned from the COVID-19 shutdown. Toronto sits 23rd of 30 teams in wins since with only one playoff appearance.

Ujiri was part of the team’s draft process this week and even stopped by to greet reporters on Wednesday, though general manager Bobby Webster did the official media duties that night and assistant GM Dan Tolzman the next.

Pelley thanked Ujiri and noted Webster and his staff would remain in place, with a search to hire a new president set to start.

That’s a mild surprise since the organization has been eliminating team presidents in other spots (Brendan Shanahan with the flagship Maple Leafs and Bill Manning with Toronto FC).

“Today’s not an easy day. But, as you know, change is never easy,” Pelley said during a press conference on Friday at Scotiabank Arena. “Masai Ujiri has had a monumental impact on the Raptors and on our community during his 13 seasons with this organization.

“His legacy will be indelibly etched in our city in perpetuity based on him playing such a significant role of bringing the 2019 NBA championship to our city and also how he transformed our brand and worked through the Raptors to create a connection with so many fans in Toronto.

“We owe Masai a great deal of gratitude and wish him the very best moving forward. One thing we know: Wherever Masai ends up, he will be successful.”

Pelley believes Toronto is in good hands with the remaining front office.

“Bobby Webster is really respected around the league. And the relationship that he has with the general managers, when you look at not only this year, but previous years, he’s often been the spokesperson for key trades, key moves, free agency deals,” Pelley said. “Bobby and I have had a number of conversations. I have a ton of time for Bobby. He has incredible integrity. He knows the ins and outs of basketball and the luxury taxes as good as anybody does in the league based on his time at the league office. So they were very good conversations.

“I think the urgency is to find the right person (to be the new president, with Webster being an option according to Pelley). If we are able to find the right person next week, fantastic. If that is next month, that’s OK, too, and if it’s in two months, that’s OK,” Pelley said.

“That’s our No. 1 priority, finding the right person that can get us back to contending and winning championships. That’s a luxury that we have based on the likes that we have Dan Tolzman as our director of player personnel, that we have Bobby Webster in the general manager’s role. That gives us the flexibility that we need.”

When Shanahan was dismissed Pelley ducked questions about Ujiri’s future.

“I think the Raptors under Masai Ujiri have obviously not only won a championship, but have started the rebuild and I’m optimistic about the season ahead,” Pelley said in May.

He clarified Friday that he and Ujiri had discussed the outgoing Raptors president’s future for some time, and Ujiri had been informed of the desire for change at the beginning of June. Ujiri, he said, wanted to see the draft through before the announcement.

Pelley said it was his decision to part ways with Ujiri, supported by the MLSE board.

“Thirteen seasons is an extremely long time in a sports leadership role,” Pelley said. “As I said, change is inevitable. What we really thought was with the current status of our team and the foundation that Masai has built, that this was the time to make the change. The roster is in place. All the players have signed (and we’re) at the luxury-tax level. The front office is renewed … and we have great coaching stability, led by Darko (Rajakovic).”

Ujiri rejoined the Raptors in 2013 after previously working under Colangelo before becoming general manager of the Denver Nuggets.

He left Denver to return to Toronto and initially planned to rebuild the Raptors, but a fortuitous trade sending Rudy Gay to Sacramento didn’t work as planned. The lesser-known reinforcements procured in the deal helped spark a run that saw Toronto return to the playoffs after a long absence.

The team continued to build from there and Ujiri and Webster eventually spearheaded the shocking trade of franchise icon DeMar DeRozan to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. They later added Marc Gasol to complete the championship puzzle.

It’s unclear what’s next for Ujiri, who has many off-court passions, but he is close with former MLSE boss Tim Leiweke, who could be involved in NBA expansion plans moving forward.

Ujiri had arrived to much fanfare as the reigning NBA executive of the year, hired by the flamboyant Leiweke.

“We feel very lucky to have Masai in our organization. He is a proven judge of talent and we look for him to be a big part of creating a winning atmosphere, leading us to the playoffs and, ultimately, delivering NBA championships for Toronto,” Leiweke had said then.

Ujiri rose from director of global scouting to assistant general manager in Toronto from 2007-10 after leaving Denver, where he had risen up the ranks from an initial scouting position.

Though close with Nuggets ownership, Toronto offered a huge raise (the money would only grow from there for Ujiri) and a bigger opportunity.

He was the fifth GM in Raptors history, eventually becoming president in part to prevent Webster from being poached by rival teams.

The Raptors had a .565 winning percentage during his tenure, vs. .407 in the other 18 seasons.