[STEIN]: Hawks have expressed interest in trying to hire Masai Ujiri away from Toronto

[SharoneWright]

Maybe they could offer him an ownership stake!! Let the bidding war begin!!

If he goes, goodbye and thanks for the memories from many years ago.

Not sure Atlanta is cosmopolitan enough for MU though...no art expositions at train stations for him to spend time on, I'd guess.

[TravisScott55]

Wouldn't lose a minute of sleep if Masai left

[Appostis]

If Ujiri leaves the Raptors it's not to join another NBA franchise.. especially a middling one like the Hawks.

[ItsDanger]

He's been mediocre lately. Committing to another 5 years at that price tag seems questionable.

[Raptors Realtor]

Masai probably leaking this to get an extension. Expect more where that came from.

Ed can’t buy into it; MU needs to go.

I asked you this yesterday after you posted the same thing, and you didn't respond... Who would you replace him with, that is realistically obtainable, and that you are confident would do a better job?

[Appostis]

If Ujiri leaves the Raptors it's not to join another NBA franchise.. especially a middling one like the Hawks.

[Kingsway_fan]

No credible gm would leave to join Hawks... Raps are lucky to have Masai. Hope he extends...

[CPT]

I kind of think Masai deserves to be fired (or not offered another, even more lucrative, extension) based on the last 5 years, but I’d still probably take him over MLSE’s next choice. You could also easily argue he deserves a chance to redeem himself. I don’t think you can argue the last 5 years have been good.

I like the idea of having that organizational stability, and while we haven’t found it in a coach yet, if we can get it from leadership, we probably should.

No question he got complacent for a few years after winning the Championship, and had a hard time letting go of the players who were a part of that winning team, but I feel like he's back to being hungry again to improve this team, and he has been very active and done well with picks/trades over the past 18 months or so... I don't like the odds of us finding someone better than Masai, especially when he's on his game... There's a reason there's always rumors of other organizations being interested in Masai, he's one of the best in the biz.

This is a good point, and although it hasn't had any tangible benefit in terms of landing FAs, I think it helps us in terms of profile around the league. Not that I think it was a great deal, but maybe Brandon Ingram doesn't "agree" to be traded here if we're not seen as that kind of stable organization.

As a side note, that made me think... for as much as we hear about other teams being interested in Masai, I've literally never heard a single word about anyone trying to poach Bobby Webster. Just kind of funny to me. To be fair, he already has the GM title, so people would likely have to offer the President of Basketball Operations-level title, but usually the most respected GMs have their underlings hired by other teams. I think it's happened a few times with Masai, just notably not with Bobby.

[DelAbbot]

He's been mediocre lately. Committing to another 5 years at that price tag seems questionable.

How would we feel if Masai signed an extension with us with a 20%-30% paycut?

[DelAbbot]

I kind of think Masai deserves to be fired (or not offered another, even more lucrative, extension) based on the last 5 years, but I’d still probably take him over MLSE’s next choice. You could also easily argue he deserves a chance to redeem himself. I don’t think you can argue the last 5 years have been good.

I like the idea of having that organizational stability, and while we haven’t found it in a coach yet, if we can get it from leadership, we probably should.

No question he got complacent for a few years after winning the Championship, and had a hard time letting go of the players who were a part of that winning team, but I feel like he's back to being hungry again to improve this team, and he has been very active and done well with picks/trades over the past 18 months or so... I don't like the odds of us finding someone better than Masai, especially when he's on his game... There's a reason there's always rumors of other organizations being interested in Masai, he's one of the best in the biz.

This is a good point, and although it hasn't had any tangible benefit in terms of landing FAs, I think it helps us in terms of profile around the league. Not that I think it was a great deal, but maybe Brandon Ingram doesn't "agree" to be traded here if we're not seen as that kind of stable organization.

As a side note, that made me think... for as much as we hear about other teams being interested in Masai, I've literally never heard a single word about anyone trying to poach Bobby Webster. Just kind of funny to me. To be fair, he already has the GM title, so people would likely have to offer the President of Basketball Operations-level title, but usually the most respected GMs have their underlings hired by other teams. I think it's happened a few times with Masai, just notably not with Bobby.

Especially when contrasted with Jeff Weltman who in similar position as Bobby was hired away to lead the Magic after just 4 years under Masai.

[ItsDanger]

He's been mediocre lately. Committing to another 5 years at that price tag seems questionable.

How would we feel if Masai signed an extension with us with a 20%-30% paycut?

Same feeling after we make a trade with the Spurs. Paying for the championship still. But in his own words "Everybody has forgotten what happened 2 years ago. Yes, we won. Nobody cares anymore." Time to evaluate him on recent performance and it hasn't been good.

[Zeno]

I just don’t see Masai wanting that job. It comes with a meddling owner’s son and a gm under him recently hired that he’d supposedly have to keep.

[HoopAndTheHarm]

I read the article. Not much there.

Atlanta has been striking out for weeks. They wanted Bob Myers and he declined. This is the same thing Washington did. Put it out there to see if Masai will bite. That's all this is.

Masai has 1 year left. They better lock him up

Masai holds Canadian and Nigerian citizenship. I would think the current political climate in the US, and the associated risks that seem to go with being an immigrant there right now, would make him very comfortable in staying here. Say what you want but it's a legitimate concern.

[ash_k]

Will see how MAGA Ed Rogers and his supporters handle this situation as the Franchise has needed Masai much more than the other way around. Someone that can pull BO44 at Scotia will be fine either way

Masai's vision has been too good (OG and Pascal and FVV have changed 3 Franchises, turning them into contenders... and some are still wondering why Masai stuck with them)

The only mistake has been hiring Darko and regrets it(i get it, Udoka was his first choice)..the man had OG|Barnes|Pascal |Jak playing below .500 unable to defend anyone ...what makes Masai think that Darko can do anything with our super talented lineup with BI and the 9th pick

[UnderdogRaptors]

Joe dumars 2.0

[Brinbe]

Well, Masai is currently in a lame duck position, so expect to see more of this if they don't make a decision on an extension. And if he doesn't get offered one by MAGA Ed, he'll easily have interest elsewhere and this is sort of tangible proof. And while Masai def had some shaky years there, I've def given him tons of warranted criticism, I also don't think it's his fault that last core from players to head coach all collectively decided to choke against DeMar's daughter and quiet quit for bigger individual paydays.

And considering all that, I think he's actually rebounded from all that quite well and has done a good job in the last 18 months restocking the empty shelves around here. I also don't think they'd be able to hire a better FO exec, especially one so familiar with the organization and the unique challenges of trying to compete in this city/country.

Maybe memories are short around here or maybe you jumped onboard post-2014, but life before Masai as a fan of this franchise was an incredibly painful one, not one I'm too eager to return to.

[Rodrickle]

Masai is getting underrated now imo. prior to this year, yes, he struggled holding on to his core. But ownership only wants rebuilds as a last resort since it cost sales, so normally teams try to squeeze whatever wins they can out of their core to the end before attempting a rebuild. Also, people are not realizing the challenges of playing in another country. Masai has helped changed the perception of playing in Toronto, and help with the branding change. He also has excellent relationships with Rich Paul, and many other agents. His last draft was excellent. BI trade still unknown now, but its not like we paid much. Darko, while shaky at first, is starting to look like a really good coach.

[dTox]

I'm not sweating if he leaves

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro using RealGM mobile app

[ATLTimekeeper]

I just don’t see Masai wanting that job. It comes with a meddling owner’s son and a gm under him recently hired that he’d supposedly have to keep.

Masai worked fine under Tanenbaum, who was a meddling owner. And he of course worked under Kroenke, who gave himself a basketball exec position.

Saleh is from Edmonton, and worked with the Spurs and Warriors. Masai worked with Bobby without having known him. I thought the interesting part was Giannis' agent also being in the mix. Saratsis and Masai are close. It could be that there's a Masai-Saratsis-Saleh framework like how Masai-Weltman and Webster worked together initially.

[Tripod]

The people who want Masai gone are TWO members who just want to bottom out for a high pick.

Reality is he brought the Raps the best stretch of winning they ever had and won a chip. Yes he had a few bad years after 2020...but 21 can't really be blamed on him with Covid and playing 0 home games. And we bounced back in 22. And started the rebuild in 24. So we are literally talking about 2 years being "bad".

He has more than earned enough rope to re-sign him and see where this next era takes us.