The Dallas Mavericks have hired Masai Ujiri, the architect of Toronto's only NBA title.
Former Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri is now the President of Basketball Operations for the Dallas Mavericks. Having built the one and only championship roster in Raptors history, Ujiri landed his next opportunity with a franchise looking to do something similar.
While Dallas does have a championship, the franchise is just as desperate to reach those heights again as teams looking to win it all for the first time. A lot of this is due to the pain still being felt from the Luka Dončić trade, which has arguably aged even worse than it looked at the time it happened, as the major piece of that return in Anthony Davis has already been sent elsewhere.
As Ujiri looks to help lead the turnaround in Dallas, his time in Toronto has been getting a lot of discussion. His willingness to trade for Kawhi Leonard in 2018, a player who had no interest in playing for the Raptors, has been at the center of those discussions. Leonard of course went on to win Finals MVP in 2019, delivering Toronto its one and only title.
That situation gets discussed a lot not only as it pertains to Ujiri and his boldness as an executive, but also this current iteration of the Raptors and what they may need to do in order to re-enter championship contention. While there is a strong core in Toronto with Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, and a collection of talented role players, there is a sense that they are a superstar away. But does that superstar want to play in Toronto? And if they do not, does the current front office have the boldness Ujiri did in 2018 to pull off a blockbuster trade?
For an organization like Dallas, which needs to quickly turn things around after a disastrous Dončić trade, that boldness is in many ways what drew them to Ujiri. But for Toronto, the philosophy in 2026 may be a lot different than it was eight years ago.
This core showed impressive potential while shorthanded, losing in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers, so perhaps running it back is the immediate course of action — rather than going all-in for another star.
While Ujiri is blazing a new trail in the Western Conference, his ties to Toronto will remain forever, and that is why despite him embarking on an entirely new endeavor, the Raptors and his time there continue to get talked about.