The Dallas Mavericks ended their six-month GM search Monday with the hiring of Masai Ujiri. Before he takes over in Dallas, here is a look at the moves that made him one of the best executives in NBA history.
The Dallas Mavericks ended their six-month GM search Monday. Masai Ujiri is the new team president and alternate governor, stepping in to replace Nico Harrison and taking over a franchise built around Cooper Flagg with two first-round picks and a lottery pick six days away. For anyone who has not followed his career closely, here is what you need to know.
Ujiri built Toronto's only championship from a trade nobody wanted him to make. In the summer of 2018, DeMar DeRozan was the face of the Raptors, a homegrown star who believed he was untouchable. Ujiri traded him to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard, a player who had spent most of the previous season on the injured list and had publicly demanded a move to Los Angeles. Nobody in Toronto saw it coming, and most were not happy about it. A year later, Leonard was Finals MVP, and Toronto had its first title.
That willingness to make the uncomfortable decision is what separates Ujiri from most executives. But the more impressive part of his record is what he did in the draft year after year with picks nobody else valued.
In 2016, he took Pascal Siakam 27th overall. Siakam was a 22-year-old from Cameroon who had played organized basketball for less than four years. Three years later, he was the NBA's Most Improved Player. He also signed Fred VanVleet as an undrafted free agent in 2016. VanVleet made the All-Star team in 2022.
The following year, Ujiri selected OG Anunoby 23rd overall after a knee injury had dropped him off most teams' boards entirely. Anunoby spent the next several seasons becoming one of the most valuable two-way wings in the league before Ujiri traded him to New York for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.
In 2021, he took Scottie Barnes fourth overall in a pick that confused most analysts; he won Rookie of the Year that year.
That is four roster cornerstones found in the back half of the first round or off the waiver wire. When their value peaked, Ujiri cashed them in and rebuilt again.
Dallas does not control its own first-round pick until 2031. The picks at 8 and 30 this June are among the last assets the franchise has to work with for years. Ujiri spent over a decade turning overlooked players into stars and stars into future assets. He now has Flagg as his foundation and a front office that desperately needed someone who knows what they are doing. Monday was a good day for this franchise