TORONTO – Masai Ujiri is out as vice-chairman and president of the Toronto Raptors, marking the top of a greater than decade-long run that delivered the franchise’s first NBA title.
The perimeters parted ways Friday, with Ujiri heading into the ultimate yr of his contract.
The dismissal continues Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment’s trend of moving on from team presidents — Brendan Shanahan was let go last month by the Maple Leafs, and Bill Manning was shown the door last yr by each Toronto FC and the Argonauts.
In a release, MLSE said general manager Bobby Webster had been prolonged, however the terms of the contract weren’t released.
Ujiri was present on the OVO Athletic Centre, the Raptors’ training facility, about an hour before the primary round of the NBA Draft began on Wednesday. He walked around the general public area and greeted reporters within the media centre.
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Ujiri guided the Raptors to their lone NBA title in 2019 after a series of daring moves, including trading star DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard and firing coach Dwane Casey in favour of Nick Nurse.
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Under Ujiri, the Raptors made the playoffs seven straight seasons from 2013-14 to 2019-20.
While Leonard packed his bags for Los Angeles to play for the Clippers in free agency after the championship, the Raptors remained a force within the pandemic-interrupted 2019-20 season. Toronto finished the regular season with the league’s second-best record before losing to the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of a second-round series within the league’s bubble in Orlando, Fla.
Kyle Lowry, a pillar of the Raptors’ most successful run in team history, went to Miami in a sign-and-trade following that season, and Toronto has since missed the post-season 4 of the last five years, including the last three, as Ujiri committed to a rebuild amid a trying 2023-24.
Longtime point guard Fred VanVleet had already bolted to Houston in free agency prior to that season, with Ujiri eventually trading forwards Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby to Indiana and Recent York before the trade deadline.
The trades left backup forward Chris Boucher because the last player remaining from the 2019 title team.
Toronto went 25-57 in 2023-24, following that up with a 30-52 record last season.
An assistant general manager in Toronto in 2008 before taking up as GM of the Denver Nuggets, Ujiri was rehired by the Raptors to run basketball operations in May 2013.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press