One of the best front-office executives in the NBA just hit the open market.
Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors have parted ways.
Ujiri had the title of vice chairman and team president and was the Raptors’ alternate governor. Not only did he have a significant impact on roster construction that led to Toronto’s 2019 championship, he was influential when it came to league matters at large.
If a team is looking for an executive to lead the next phase of operations at a high level with a track record of success, Ujiri is the answer.
However, is that what Ujiri wants to do next with his life? He has opportunities in and out of basketball that don’t involve the NBA directly.
I’ve always thought the Ujiri may want to have an impact on society beyond basketball: politics, or another type of public service; expanding his Giants of Africa foundation; other charitable organizations. I wondered if New York or Washington, D.C. might be one of his next stops, even if it wasn’t with an NBA team. Being that close to powerful people and organizations makes sense.
Ujiri is smart, thoughtful, savvy in the best ways and is well connected. If Ujiri wanted to text Barack Obama right now, he could.
He has choices and his next step will be fascinating.
Ujiri’s Giants of Africa provides basketball instruction and mentorship of youth in Africa and hosts camps across the continent, and earlier this year, he had the first Giants of Africa camp in Ethiopia and late in 2024, he had the first camp in Gabon. He also has a specific basketball camp for big men – 6-foot-8 and taller.
He has official and unofficial roles in helping the NBA’s international growth in Canada and Africa. When Ujiri joined the Raptors in 2013, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was a 14-year-old developing a love of the game in Toronto. Today, Gilgeous-Alexander is a 2025 NBA champion and reigning regular-season and NBA Finals MVP.
Ujiri is not single-handedly responsible for the basketball explosion in Canada, but he understands the landscape and was influential. He had an official role with the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders and the Basketball Africa League.
Ujiri doesn’t have to decide now. He had one year remaining on his contract, and it’s known throughout the league that the Raptors and ownership Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment are more than fair with compensation.
Teams will call Ujiri, and he will be wise to listen. But there may be other, more important endeavors on his agenda.
