Masai Ujiri era ends in Toronto as Raptors move on from longtime president

TORONTO — The Masai Ujiri era of the Toronto Raptors is officially over.

The Raptors announced on Friday that the team’s vice-chairman and president was fired, marking the end of a more than decade-long run that delivered the franchise its first NBA championship.

Ujiri was heading into the final year of his contract with the team, but Keith Pelley, the president and CEO of Raptors’ owners Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, said that the decision was made about a month ago.

“Thirteen seasons is an extremely long time in a sports leadership role,” said Pelley in opening remarks made to the media at Scotiabank Arena. “Change is inevitable. What we really thought was with the current status of our team and the foundation that Masai has built, that this was the time to make the change.

“The roster is in place. All the players have signed (and we’re) at the luxury tax level. The front office is renewed, including general manager Bobby Webster, and we have great coaching stability, led by Darko Rajakovic.”

Webster’s extension was also announced Friday, but the terms of the contract were not released. Pelley said the GM will be given the opportunity to interview for the president position along with external candidates in a search to begin immediately.

“Bobby Webster is really respected around the league and the relationship that he has with the general managers, when you look at not only this year, but previous years, he’s often been the spokesperson for key trades, key moves, free agency deals,” said Pelley. “But we are hiring another president. Whether that’s Bobby is to be determined, but we’re not hiring a president and a general manager.

“We’re hiring a president. We will have a general manager. (…) We’re looking for an experienced, prominent, strong, successful personality.”

Ujiri was present at the OVO Athletic Centre, the Raptors’ training facility, about an hour before the first round of the NBA Draft began on Wednesday. He walked around the building’s lobby and greeted reporters in the media centre.

Although his fate had already been decided, Ujiri stayed on through the NBA Draft at his own request, Pelley said. Toronto picked Collin Murray-Boyles ninth overall on Wednesday and Alijah Martin 39th on Thursday.

Videoboards on the side of Scotiabank Arena welcomed the two young players to the Raptors on Friday, even as inside the building, Pelley was explaining why the man who helped draft them was no longer with the team.

“The fact that he led the draft shows Masai’s integrity and our trust and belief that he always has and will always have the best interest at heart for the Raptors,” said Pelley. “There are many factors that came into this decision, and the timing was right to make a change, and we believe that with the stability in all of the areas that have been outlined multiple times, that gave us the opportunity to do such a change and that’s what we’ve done.”

Pelley, who was hired by MLSE in January 2024, said Friday that the company’s board of directors told him his primary responsibility is to bring championships to Toronto in the NBA, NHL, CFL and Major League Soccer.

Ujiri’ is the third MLSE team president to be dismissed under Pelley’s leadership at MLSE, joining former Maple Leafs head Brendan Shanahan and Bill Manning, who was shown the door last year by both Toronto FC and the Argonauts.

“My role is to do the best I possibly can and to contend for championships on an annual basis,” said Pelley. “We have four teams, it’s obviously a little easier to do such with the Canadian Football League, but with the other three teams it’s tough, it’s hard, and I’m committed to it, to building the right culture and the right competitive players to contend and win championships.

“You have to be prepared to make some tough decisions. You have to be prepared to make change. Change is hard, it really is hard, and this decision today is hard. It’s a tough decision, but I think it’s the right decision for the Raptors at this time. And I will continue to make decisions that I think are right for the organization — that put us in the right position to win.”

Ujiri guided the Raptors to their lone NBA title in 2019 after a series of bold moves, including trading star DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard and firing coach Dwane Casey in favour of Nick Nurse.

Under Ujiri, the Raptors made the playoffs seven straight seasons from 2013-14 to 2019-20.

After Leonard packed his bags for Los Angeles to play for the Clippers in free agency after the championship, the Raptors remained a force in 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 in 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 playoffs four of the last five years, including the last three, as Ujiri committed to a rebuild amid a trying 2023-24 campaign.

Longtime point guard Fred VanVleet had already bolted to Houston in free agency before that season, with Ujiri eventually trading forwards Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby to Indiana and New York before the trade deadline.

The trades left backup forward Chris Boucher — whose contract is set to expire on Monday — as 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.

A rumoured divide between Ujiri and Edward Rogers, the executive chair of Rogers Communications, the majority owner of MLSE, was brought up several times during Pelley’s news conference. Twice, Pelley said it was his decision to fire Ujiri, not a directive from Rogers.

“I think all board members on all major decisions, supply input,” said Pelley. “But at the end of the day, they look for the input and the direction and the strategy of where the team is going through their CEO.

“That was the reason they brought me in (…) they wanted to bring somebody in that oversaw the teams. They all have input, but at the end of the day, this was my decision, supported by the board.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2025.