Masai Ujiri, Raptors Reportedly Part Ways After NBA Draft, Won NBA Title in 2019

Masai Ujiri is reportedly leaving his role as president and vice chairman of the Toronto Raptors after 12 years with the organization.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported Friday that Ujiri and Raptors ownership group Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment mutually agreed to part ways ahead of the final year of his contract in 2025-26.

Ujiri, 54, joined the Raptors as executive vice president and general manager in 2013. He went on to lead the franchise to its first and only NBA championship in 2019.

Before joining the Raptors, Ujiri spent three seasons as general manager of the Denver Nuggets. Ujiri was the first African GM in the history of the four major North American sports leagues, and he was named NBA Executive of the Year in his final year with the Nuggets.

During his tenure in Toronto, the Raptors posted a record of 545-419 and reached the playoffs eight times in 12 seasons, including seven times in a row from 2014 to 2020.

The Raptors also won 50 or more games in five consecutive seasons from 2015-16 through 2019-20, which was an unprecedented run of success for the organization.

Ujiri will best be remembered as the executive who brought Kawhi Leonard and an NBA championship to Toronto.

In 2018, Ujiri made the risky decision to send DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for Leonard, who was heading into the final year of his contract. That meant the Raptors would perhaps have only one chance to win a title. They made it count, as they took down the mighty Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the 2019 NBA Finals, and Leonard was named NBA MVP.

Leonard signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency during the ensuing offseason, and the Raptors were never quite the same after that.

They did reach the playoffs in 2020 and 2021, but they won only a single series across those two appearances, and key contributors from the championship team such as Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry eventually left the team via trade or free agency.

The Raptors have now gone three straight years without a playoff appearance, and they are coming off a 2024-25 season that saw them post a 30-52 record.

Much like the Leonard trade, the Raptors reportedly tried to pull off a similar coup this offseason. Charania reported that Toronto was among the teams pursuing a trade for superstar forward Kevin Durant before the Phoenix Suns dealt him to the Houston Rockets.

While the Durant deal didn't work out, a core of Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and Poeltl at least gives the Raptors some hope they can return to playoff contention in the Eastern Conference next season.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the Raptors added two promising rookies to the fold in No. 9 overall pick Collin Murray-Boyles and No. 39 overall pick Alijah Martin, marking Ujiri's final orders of business with the organization.

NBA free agency is set to start on Monday, and for the first time since 2013, someone other than Ujiri will be the Raptors' head decision-maker.