Ujiri's Raptors had lost some luster, but good luck finding someone better

The bombshell of the Toronto Raptors' offseason wasn't a superstar acquisition but rather a seismic loss, as Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment announced Friday that it had parted ways with team president and vice chairman Masai Ujiri.

The news was met with shock north of the border, where Ujiri's 12-year run transformed the Raptors brand and Canadian basketball.

The timing is curious. While Ujiri would've been entering the final year of his contract - a deal that made him one of the highest-paid executives in North American sports - the announcement comes days after the NBA draft, during which the Raptors shared footage of a beaming Ujiri on the phone with first-round selection Collin Murray-Boyles. MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley later added that discussions surrounding Ujiri's exit began earlier this month, with Ujiri requesting that any changes wait until the draft was complete.

Meanwhile, free agency is just days away. The Raptors don't figure to be major players in an underwhelming market, but the biggest impact of Ujiri's departure might be how Toronto is perceived in that market going forward (and whether this derails any future pursuits of Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has a history with Ujiri).

Ujiri brought a swagger and legitimacy to the Raptors that the franchise could never have dreamed of before him and will be hard-pressed to find again without him.

Ujiri also brought tangible and unprecedented success. The Raptors made eight trips to the postseason in his first nine years on the job, winning nine playoff series and the 2019 NBA championship in the process (after a gutsy trade for a disgruntled Kawhi Leonard in the final year of his contract). In the 18 years preceding Ujiri's takeover, the Raptors made five playoff appearances and won one series.

However, the immaculate vibes faded over the last five years, beginning with a displaced season in Tampa Bay during the COVID-19 pandemic. At least that delivered lottery luck and franchise star Scottie Barnes, with the Raptors returning to the postseason in Barnes' Rookie of the Year campaign. It seemed Ujiri's Raptors would seamlessly transition from one successful era to another, but it wasn't to be, and his front office has to own that.

Reported internal friction between Barnes and the old guard initially disrupted the plan. Since then, an inability to find the right mix of talent to surround the 23-year-old has foiled things further. Along the way, Toronto moved or lost the last remnants of its championship core, punctuated by a pennies-on-the-dollar trade of Pascal Siakam to Indiana. There's no debating that the Raptors botched the handling and timing of Siakam's final days in Toronto, a fact underscored by the three-time All-Star's significant role in the Pacers' run to the 2025 Finals and the 2024 Eastern Conference finals.

As the dust settles on that transaction, the Raptors can essentially say they turned an expiring Siakam into Ja'Kobe Walter, Ochai Agbaji, and Brandon Ingram, the latter of whom Toronto traded for and extended at this year's deadline. The deal for Ingram felt defensible but equally baffling, emblematic of the murkiness that came to define the final years of Ujiri's tenure. There's also the possibility the Raptors may have turned down an extremely valuable 2026 first-round pick and failed to capitalize on New Orleans' draft-night desperation, but we can't be certain the Pelicans offered Toronto the same package that Atlanta ultimately pried from them.

It's fair to question Toronto's current direction and Ujiri's recent track record, but it appears MLSE was the only one who didn't believe he'd eventually figure things out. The Raptors' rabid fan base had an almost unwavering faith in the man who told them to believe in themselves, their city, and their country despite the inferiority complex that comes with being the NBA's lone team outside the U.S.

Who could blame fans for their devotion after he delivered on his promises time and time again, rallying Canadians around a "We The North" battle cry?

Perhaps it's no coincidence that MLSE's crisis of faith coincides with Rogers Communications and Ed Rogers Jr. gaining more control of the enterprise. It was Rogers who reportedly scoffed at meeting Ujiri's price to retain the coveted executive four years ago, only to have team governor Larry Tanenbaum overrule him. However, after a $4.7-billion deal to acquire Bell Media's 37.5% stake in the company, Rogers now holds a controlling 75% share in MLSE, with the option to buy out Tanenbaum's remaining 25% in 2026.

Pelley, former CEO of Rogers and past president of the DP World Tour, assumed his role with the company last year. He made waves in May when the Maple Leafs parted ways with Brendan Shanahan, who took over as president of Toronto's historic hockey club a year after Ujiri landed the Raptors job. However, the Leafs are progressing without a president for the time being, whereas the Raptors' search for a new president will commence immediately (with general manager Bobby Webster and other front-office personnel retained and extended).

That means it's not necessarily the role of team president that Pelley and Rogers found dispensible, but Ujiri himself.

"Let's give Masai tremendous accolades for creating a brand and a culture, but the testament to that brand and the testament to a culture is how it lives once that individual is gone," Pelley told theScore during a Friday news conference. "I believe that the culture and the brand that (Ujiri's) created will flourish, because that's the way he would've wanted it. When you create a brand, when you create a culture, if it is mitigated when that individual is no longer involved, then the culture and brand has not been created in the right way."

Pelley and the team's fans will have to agree to disagree on how invaluable Ujiri remained. What can't be disputed is how badly he wanted to bring another title to town, both personally and professionally.

Ujiri guaranteed the Raptors would win again every time he found himself in front of a microphone. In April, he spoke candidly about how he didn't feel he had the opportunity to truly savor his first triumph due to Leonard's impending free agency and an altercation with a sheriff's deputy that led to both sides filing lawsuits (which were dropped in 2021).

It feels surreal that Ujiri's quest for that second trophy could now be of competing interest to Toronto, but that's the course Rogers, Pelley, and MLSE have charted. Whatever their next move is, they better hope it's the type of home run only Ujiri has ever consistently hit for this franchise.

Joseph Casciaro is theScore's lead Raptors and NBA reporter.