Masai Ujiri slowly but surely built the Raptors into a championship team. He helped establish a winning culture and made several savvy moves that eventually allowed him to bring Kawhi Leonard to town. That, in turn, led to the franchise’s first championship in 2019. Despite his success with the Raptors, Ujiri and the organization parted ways in 2025.
Raptors fans can still see him work his magic in Toronto, though. Ujiri recently joined the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo as a principal owner. While he will be in a different role than he was with the Raptors, having Ujiri’s experience of building a championship team alongside GM Monica Wight Rogers, who won two WNBA titles as a player, and championship head coach Sandy Brondello lays the foundation for a very successful Tempo team.
The Tempo already had a great expansion draft, landing several role players who can help a team win right now. They also got pretty close to securing a star when they selected Marina Mabrey from the Connecticut Sun. The Tempo could add an actual All-Star soon enough—all because of Ujiri, who has “a great relationship” with Nneka Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike through his investment in African basketball. While the younger Ogwumike sister stepped away from the game, Nneka Ogwumike is still a star in the league.
Bringing Nneka Ogwumike to Toronto would be a massive win
Any Toronto-based fan who loves to watch good basketball should root for the Tempo to land Nneka Ogwumike. She’s not only a great leader and culture setter—she led the negotiations for a historic new CBA—but she’s also just a really good basketball player.
Ogwumike is a ten-time All-Star and the 2016 MVP. She made the All-WNBA Second Team in 2025 at 35 years old. She is the definition of sustained excellence.
She is also very unlikely to re-sign with the Seattle Storm. The Storm parted ways with head coach Noelle Quinn and hired a first-time coach to replace her. They also have two lottery picks—Dominique Malonga and hopefully Olivia Miles or Azzi Fudd—to focus on. If Ogwumike wants to win any time soon, she will leave in free agency.
Signing with an expansion team in its first season isn’t something players of her caliber usually do, but maybe Masai can convince her to take the leap.
Convincing Ogwumike to sign with the Tempo may not necessarily make them a playoff team right away—the top of the WNBA is stacked with loaded teams ready to win it all—but it would be a meaningful first step in building another great basketball team in Toronto.