MAVS hire Masai Ujiri as new team President

[Winter]

One of his last moves was signing AJ Lawson to a contract last year.

I noticed Lawson had some playoff minutes last week in every game.

[myconsumerclub]

I am happy to see it happen sooner than later. If he can win a ship in Toronto with all the disadvantages that city has to deal with then the fact we have an owner that can spend $$$ in a state with no income tax is going to be a huge advantage and selling tool for him to win players loyalty and create more desire to play here.

I would fear Dallas if I were Toronto because he may have an inside connection to reach in and take what he wants from that team.

They were in the play offs this year and took CLE to 7 games so they were legit. Mukshavili and Temple are the only 2 free agents on that team and neither is of value to us if you ask me.

Maybe he can facilitate a trade to Tor of some guys we no longer need nor want.

Toronto has picks 19 and 50. If I look at that roster and I try to guess what they would pick at 19 I would say Aday Mara or that Italian Wemby that just declared for the draft, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gStz4sHzBp8

They tried to get rid of Poeltl and he played like crap for them in the playoffs so would think they do whatever they can to get rid of him. Wonder if they would part with 19 over taking him.

I just looked and he has to be the worst contract that I have ever seen, given how little he is contributing and how long he has to play still. They would have to give up multiple first round picks to get him gone if he wanted us to take on Jakob. he is there through 2030 and his contract tops out at 29 million in 2029 and drops to 27 million in 2030 https://www.hoopshype.com/salaries/playe...tl/844478/

Hopefully, Ujiri was not responsible for that contract.

[dirkfansince1998]

Will be interesting to see if he still has a type. With the Raptors it was all about long and athletic guys with some handles. Would pick or sign at least one young prospect that fits into this category each year.

[KillerLeft]

Will be interesting to see if he still has a type. With the Raptors it was all about long and athletic guys with some handles. Would pick or sign at least one young prospect that fits into this category each year.

This is one of the reasons I'm cool with this. Ujiri was an early adopter of the "almost everyone is between 6'7" and 6'10", and they are all switchable, defensively" model. I still really like that approach, so I'm optimistic that he'll have an effective vision for the future of the team. 

I hope he values shooting a bit more than it has seemed he does at times, and certainly more than the recent regime does.

[myconsumerclub]

https://www.basketball-reference.com/exe...ma99x.html

Below are the links to data on drafts he took part in with Denver and Toronto.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/tea...draft.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/tea...draft.html

[Tyler]

I would fear Dallas if I were Toronto because he may have an inside connection to reach in and take what he wants from that team.

My personal hope is that Ujiri's first move in Dallas is to poach the medical staff from Toronto. They are very highly regarded.

[KillerLeft]

My personal hope is that Ujiri's first move in Dallas is to poach the medical staff from Toronto. They are very highly regarded.

Great idea!

[michaeltex]

My personal hope is that Ujiri's first move in Dallas is to poach the medical staff from Toronto. They are very highly regarded.

And it won't cost draft capital to get them...

[dirkfansince1998]

Almost forgot the obligatory Ujiri question. What is Bruno Caboclo doing these days? Still two years away from being two years away or just waiting for his opportunity to dominate the NBA.

[mvossman]

Will be interesting to see if he still has a type. With the Raptors it was all about long and athletic guys with some handles. Would pick or sign at least one young prospect that fits into this category each year.

I never understood why that team wasn't better post Kawhi.  Had a lot of good players.  I think it goes to show how important it is to have an alpha.  Good thing this team already has that.

[Smitty]

From @mcuban on the hiring of Masai Ujiri: “I like it. He has experience. He has won. Most importantly, the owner he had in Toronto is very similar to Patrick Dumont. I think it will make it easier on Patrick and the organization to have someone with his credentials in charge.”

[Chicagojk]

Who knows what level of influence Masai had with the CMB drafting and the Poetl extension.   He was fired the day after the draft and Poetl was extended at the beginning of July.  I am sure he was involved, but seems like a weird time for the Raptors front office.

[FireNicoHarrison]

Great pick, not the best but a top5 for sure.

[Chicagojk]

Wasn't as important as the Leonard trade for their championship, but this was a sneaky great trade.

Trade: CJ Miles, Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, 2024 2nd for Marc Gasol

[KillerLeft]

The more I think about this, the more I'm cool with it. Ujiri was probably the most realistic option that checks all of the boxes we've discussed:

-track record of success IN THIS JOB

-alpha personality that exudes "in charge" and "take our franchise seriously." He's not Pat Riley in this category, but a lot closer to it than anyone that Mavs have had since Don Nelson Sr and/or Cuban, both of whom were probably not taken super seriously in all corners of the NBA.

-probably doesn't have to work again the rest of his life, if he doesn't want to, so I think we can safely assume that assurances were made that he'll be able to run the thing as he sees fit with as little meddling from ownership as possible, and probably without all the "game of thrones" style backstabbing politics that plagued this franchise during the Cuban years. Finally, the world will KNOW who deserves credit for success and blame for failure in Dallas, and I have come to believe that level of accountability (but with the authority to actually make decisions) is the first step in running a healthy team.

I guess my one complaint about this is that it feels like a move that could've been made weeks or months ago. For all the talk of going after someone from another team (which most of us thought wasn't possible, really), they ended up hiring one of the two big fish that was currently between gigs. Not a huge deal, I suppose, and I'm glad they made the hire before the draft.

What I'd like to see now is a shakeup in some area of the organization that proves things are changing. Tyler had a great idea above about the TOR medical staff, I think, but it doesn't have to be that, necessarily. And, it shouldn't be a move just to make a move, but...something that tells the organization (and the world) that people around here will now be expected to do their jobs at an elite, professional level. I imagine a lot of changes are coming over the next 2-3 years and there's no reason to needlessly backtrack in the meantime just to prove he's in charge, but I would think minor shakeup to put everyone on notice that "your skills are under current evaluation" might be a good, healthy thing for this franchise.

[mvossman]

Kind of crazy where this organization is at compared to a year ago. The team had just made arguably the worst trade in NBA history, completely fell apart and missed the playoffs, with fans protesting games and getting thrown out for yelling "fire Nico", and at this point it seemed clear that Dumont was not going to fire Nico and run it back with a shit show FO. Since then they lucked into Flagg, fired Nico and now hired one of the most respected names in the NBA to run basketball operations. Quite the turnaround.

[Smitty]

Kind of crazy where this organization is at compared to a year ago.  The team had just made arguably the worst trade in NBA history, completely fell apart and missed the playoffs, with fans protesting games and getting thrown out for yelling "fire Nico", and at this point it seemed clear that Dumont was not going to fire Nico and run it back with a shit show FO.  Since then they lucked into Flagg, fired Nico and now hired one of the most respected names in the NBA to run basketball operations.  Quite the turnaround.

Things change quickly in the NBA… At least I’m back in the “excited to see what happens” category for the next chapter. These past 12 months weren’t very exciting.

Hoping to be ecstatic after Sunday’s drawing!

[F Gump]

Who knows what level of influence Masai had with the CMB drafting and the Poetl extension.   He was fired the day after the draft and Poetl was extended at the beginning of July.  I am sure he was involved, but seems like a weird time for the Raptors front office.

[*]Denver Nuggets: August 27, 2010 to May 31, 2013
[*]Toronto Raptors: May 31, 2013 to June 27, 2025 


The CMB draft work was undoubtedly done under Ujiri's regime. He was still in charge until a few days after the draft, and the owner probably timed that deliberately to be able to have the benefit of his familiarity with the various choices.

The Poeltl extension was done in July. That one was not his decision, and is on the people in charge at that point who were planning the road ahead for the team.

[mvossman]

The Poeltl extension was done in July. That one was not his decision, and is on the people in charge at that point who were planning the road ahead for the team.

Kind of a big deal as I had this as his worst move.  If he was not a part of that then I feel even better about this hire.

[michaeltex]

Interested to see if there are any deals he makes prior to the draft.

Now that this position is filled, I guess the offseason can officially get underway...