Toronto Raptors: Five moves the Raptors should make this off-season

Extending Masai Ujiri’s contract

The architect of the last eight years, the most extraordinary consecutive run of competitive basketball in Toronto history, is Masai Ujiri. First, signing as the team’s general manager in May of 2013 and currently as the president of the team’s basketball operations.

Masai Ujiri is a one-time NBA executive of the year, with the Denver Nuggets, and it’s hard to explain why he hasn’t won it in Toronto yet. Since he arrived in 2013, the Toronto Raptors have not missed the playoffs. In the summer of 2018, he took the considerable risk of trading then Raptors’ star DeMar DeRozan for a one year rental of Kawhi Leonard.

It worked.  Toronto won the 2019 NBA title. His brilliance can also be measured because the Raptors have been a winning team without lottery picks.  Norman Powell, Pascal Siakam, and OG Anunoby were drafted in consecutive years and were all late first-rounders or second-round draft picks. Players like Fred VanVleet and Chris Boucher were undrafted.

Masai Ujiri tends to make all the right moves, and now Toronto Raptors ownership needs to do what’s best for the organization and re-sign Masai Ujiri. He is currently in the last year of his contract and recently took care of head coach Nick Nurse’s contract extension.

The excellent news is Masai Ujiri may sign soon, according to Marc Stein.

It would be highly advantageous not to let Masai Ujiri become a free agent and extend his contract now. He has been, by far, the best executive, president, or general manager, by performance, the Raptors have ever employed.