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The Toronto Raptors are part of an organization structure called Maple Leafs Sports Entertainment. Telecom giants in Canada ( Bell and Rogers), equally held shares of the organization, however, Rogers has just bought out Bell for a majority stake ownership (75%).

Edward Rogers infamously wanted to fire Masai last year, as he thought Masai was overrated (he definitely is not). Now that Rogers has a majority stake ownership, Masai seems to be on borrowed time.

For the Raptors, the news shifts the focus to two men: Rogers chairman Edward Rogers III and Raptors president and vice-chairman Masai Ujiri. They have had a strained relationship in the past, and now Rogers is undeniably the most powerful person in the company that owns the team. Before Wednesday, it was already a relationship that had required monitoring. Now, it must be observed intently.

Just FYI, Ed Rogers tried a Coup of his fathers company, as well. He's looked at pretty negatively in and outside of his organization.

Accordingly, the onus will be on Ujiri to find a way to co-exist with Rogers, and less on Rogers himself. It was reportedly Rogers who was the most skeptical about paying Ujiri like a top-of-market executive in 2021, two years after Ujiri’s Raptors won the NBA Finals. It was also Rogers who was most acutely against MLSE going after a WNBA expansion team, with the Toronto Star reporting last October that Rogers’ relationship with Ujiri was a factor in MLSE not going down that road

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5776913/2024/09/18/rogers-bell-sale-masai-ujiri-toronto-raptors/

It would be a very very sad day in Toronto if Ujiri does leave, as the team needs him to see through the rebuild.

It's probably time for him to go... Mans has been MID for a while now.

I used to think this guy was world class, man oh man has he proved me wrong.

Karate Diop wrote:It's probably time for him to go... Mans has been MID for a while now.

According to Basketball Ref he's a borderline top 10 executive of all time

https://www.basketball-reference.com/executives/NBA_stats.html

He's still super young (54)

I would say it would be hard to replace the guy.

Karate Diop wrote:It's probably time for him to go... Mans has been MID for a while now.

I kind of share this same sentiment but I want to give him this year to see if he actually has some sort of vision for the Raptors.

I said before he owed his entire rep to Pop for sending Kawhi to Toronto and not to LA and got absolutely lambasted by the Raps fans for it I still stand by that opinion

It's actually fairly standard practice when a new ownership group or management comes into power they want to bring in their own people.

Noone's job is 100% safe especially in the NBA.

Masai took a huge risk in trading for an expiring Kawhi and and it paid off big. He's had some nice draft picks including Barnes. Overall he really hasn't done much since Kawhi left in FA.

Bornstellar wrote:I said before he owed his entire rep to Pop for sending Kawhi to Toronto and not to LA and got absolutely lambasted by the Raps fans for it I still stand by that opinion

As you should have been. Look at what he did in Denver and with the Bargs trade.

He does seem to get too attached to his creations so maybe there's a shelf life. But he's been fantastic all in all.

The more time passes, the more he's looking like a better version of Joe Dumars. He caught lightning in a bottle, but couldn't repeat it.

He's made some really poor moves in recent years, and his overall vision and strategy have been pretty bad. He's actually doubled down on alot of his mistakes.

Once he gets fired, I'm not sure he'll have much of a run elsewhere (much like Dumars).

Masai stopped caring a while ago. He wants to do diplomatic stuff in Africa. I believe he's only still the gm of the raptors because it helps him with his diplomatic ambitions.

The question is always who do you replace him with.

I think he's good but also overrated.

If he gets let go, Raps fans, don't despair.

People don't realize how hard that Toronto gig really is. City is awesome, but the NBA and media at large treat the franchise like it is the smallest market in basketball. Just because they can't get domestic ratings, it's like they aren't worth talking about.

Just another one of my pet peeves about this league. You only have one team outside of USA, don't treat them like a bastard child.

Bornstellar wrote:I said before he owed his entire rep to Pop for sending Kawhi to Toronto and not to LA and got absolutely lambasted by the Raps fans for it I still stand by that opinion

He built a great roster around Leonard. Stole Green in the trade with the Spurs as well. The Raptors would not have got past the 76ers if they did not trade for Gasol. Take a look at how great and deep that team was. Anunoby did not even play in the playoffs due to not being available.

toronto fans act like raptors were a dynasty or a powerhouse before ujiri, and then ujiri took over and turned raptors into a directionless, mediocre team. lol.

Bornstellar wrote:I said before he owed his entire rep to Pop for sending Kawhi to Toronto and not to LA and got absolutely lambasted by the Raps fans for it I still stand by that opinion

Total casual take. There's the pre Masai Raptors and the post Masai Raptors and those organizations are NOTHING like each other.

His reputation is pretty much based on fleecing the Knicks in two trades and hitting on his gamble that Kawhi Leonard would play basketball for a full season.

DKB333 wrote:

Bornstellar wrote:I said before he owed his entire rep to Pop for sending Kawhi to Toronto and not to LA and got absolutely lambasted by the Raps fans for it I still stand by that opinion

He built a great roster around Leonard. Stole Green in the trade with the Spurs as well. The Raptors would not have got past the 76ers if they did not trade for Gasol. Take a look at how great and deep that team was. Anunoby did not even play in the playoffs due to not being available.

Also hired Nurse, drafted Siakam, signed FVV and traded for Serge.

One_and_Done wrote:The more time passes, the more he's looking like a better version of Joe Dumars. He caught lightning in a bottle, but couldn't repeat it.

He's made some really poor moves in recent years, and his overall vision and strategy have been pretty bad. He's actually doubled down on alot of his mistakes.

Once he gets fired, I'm not sure he'll have much of a run elsewhere (much like Dumars).

Idunno, Masai came into the Toronto Barneys and turned it into ' We the North'. As corny as that sounds the change in respect for the raptors is huge. Even before the championship he made the right moves, got rid of Colangelo, hired a coach to help change the culture, invested heavily in development & got a new developmental facility, a G league team of Toronto's own too. Rudy Gay trade was huge, Bargnani trade as well, holding out for more value & deciding not to trade Lowry because he didn't get the extra value was huge, obviously Kawhi, then Marc at the right time. Scottie at #4 isn't a move that the majority of Gms would make either. IQ & Barrett was a solid trade. While his timing has been a bit off the last few years, I respect the wait & see approach.

He's not perfect but he's caught lightning in a bottle multiple times, in Denver too. I don't think he's old enough to regress substantially and with enough time he'll right the ship of whatever team he's leading. Dumars didn't invest as heavily into development/scouting, i dont think had the same big picture approach, really dont think they're comparable.

His only mistake was not starting the rebuild faster. They knew that resigning all of their free agents wasn't going to happen so they should have made the trades and started the rebuild faster.

Bornstellar wrote:I said before he owed his entire rep to Pop for sending Kawhi to Toronto and not to LA and got absolutely lambasted by the Raps fans for it I still stand by that opinion

This is 100 percent incorrect. When Masai joined the Raptors, he turned us from a bum franchise into a lock for the playoffs, year after year way before we got Kawhi.

He also had success in Denver too.

Don't let the last 3 or so subpar years lead you to underrate what Masai did for the Toronto franchise.