The Dallas Mavericks have entered the Masai Ujiri era after introducing the former NBA Champion and 2013 NBA Executive of the Year as their new Team President and Alternate Governor. Ujiri will have complete control over the Mavericks’ front office dealings, including making trades and finalizing potential draft selections.
The Mavericks are expected to hire a GM under Ujiri as well, but the 55-year-old veteran executive will likely control the team’s basketball future as they build around franchise cornerstone Cooper Flagg. To successfully build that team, Ujiri will need to ensure he has success in surrounding Flagg with talent by maximizing the value they get from draft picks or in free agency.
It’s a good thing for Mavericks fans that Ujiri might have among the best track records in the NBA when it comes to selecting players in the NBA Draft. He’s had a higher pick than No. 9 only once in his career, showing how he manages to find talent in the late first-round, something the Mavericks will need in the future. He’s also had a great record with second-round and undrafted picks such as Fred VanVleet and Norman Powell.
Dallas doesn’t control any of their picks between 2027 and 2030, but it will have unfavorable pick swaps with the OKC Thunder and San Antonio Spurs in 2028 and 2030 respectively, giving Ujiri a chance to show what he can do. They also control the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick.
Let’s take a list of first-round picks that Masai Ujiri has selected over his tenure with the Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors.
2011 NBA Draft – Kenneth Faried (22nd pick)
Ujiri started his career as a GM by selecting Kenneth Faried with the 22nd pick in the 2011 NBA Draft for the Nuggets. Faried would spend seven seasons in Denver, getting supplanted by the emergence of new starting center Nikola Jokic, before being out of the NBA by the end of the 2018-19 season.
Faried averaged 11.4 points and 8.1 rebounds over his career, enjoying his entire prime as a member of the Nuggets. The NBA changed over his tenure, as the emphasis on being able to shoot from outside and guard the perimeter became a huge necessity across teams, even with their big men. Faried was a post-powerhouse and affectionately nicknamed ‘The Manimal,’ but his style wasn’t compatible with where the NBA was going. As a result, he is now out of the league just eight years after being drafted.
Faried was a hit selection given the value he provided the Nuggets over his tenure. This was a great way for Ujiri to start his career as an elite draft mind, as Faried’s production during his prime easily surpassed the value the team got or expected from the 22nd pick in a draft.
2012 NBA Draft – Evan Fournier (20th pick)
Evan Fournier is a memorable player from the 2010s, with the French shooting guard getting his opportunity in the NBA after Ujiri’s Nuggets selected him with the 20th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. He was a star in the French leagues by the time his NBA opportunity came knocking, averaging 13.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists over his 12-year career in the NBA.
Despite Fournier having a longer NBA career than Faried and having a useful skill set for the modern NBA, he would be a satisfactory pick for Ujiri. It was a great find for him to get a player as productive as Fournier in the late first-round, but Ujiri would leave the franchise one year after this selection, with the new front office moving Fournier to the Orlando Magic in 2014, where he enjoyed the best years of his career before leaving the NBA after a bad stint with the Detroit Pistons in 2024.
The selection of Fournier further shows how astutely Ujiri can identify talent, but calling him a hit selection would be tricky because of his short tenure on the team Ujiri drafted him for.
2014 NBA Draft – Bruno Caboclo (20th pick)
Easily the worst draft pick of Ujiri’s career, Bruno Caboclo was an attempt by the executive to draft a potential future superstar. Unfortunately, Caboclo was as far from that as possible despite spending six years in the NBA across multiple teams. Caboclo was hailed as the Brazilian Kevin Durant coming into the NBA, but the power forward never came close to living up to that potential.
Caboclo averaged 4.2 points and 2.6 rebounds over his NBA career and was the first draft selection Ujiri made as a member of the Raptors. There’s not much else to say about Caboclo outside of him being a true NBA Draft bust, failing to find any form in future stints with teams like the Brooklyn Nets and Memphis Grizzlies.
Ujiri cut his losses on a bust like Caboclo after the end of his rookie contract, winning his first NBA Championship one season after that.
2015 NBA Draft – Delon Wright (20th pick)
Delon Wright was selected with the 20th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Raptors, with the defense-oriented point guard expected to be a rotational option behind Kyle Lowry on the title-contending Raptors squad that Ujiri had built by 2015.
Wright averaged 6.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists over his NBA career. He would become a journeyman after his rookie contract ended the summer before Toronto won an NBA Championship, playing for a total of 10 teams over a 10-year career. While Wright wasn’t anything to brag about, he was a solid NBA player for most of his career, although he lost his spot in the NBA during the 2025 offseason.
This is a satisfactory pick for what you could expect from the 20th pick in the NBA Draft. However, it’s nowhere close to the incredible value Ujiri would find in the NBA Draft over the next few seasons.
2016 NBA Draft – Jakob Poeltl (9th pick)
Jakob Poeltl was drafted with the ninth pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, instantly becoming one of the key members of the Raptors center rotation over his first two seasons with the franchise. He was valuable enough for the San Antonio Spurs to accept him as part of Ujiri’s fantastic acquisition of Kawhi Leonard, which led to an NBA Championship the same season as the trade.
Poeltl is back on the Raptors now and has averaged 9.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks over his 10-year career. He’s a solid center, who almost every NBA team would value having, with his ability to rebound and block shots. The fact that he left the franchise in order to get them the piece they needed to become NBA Champions and then returned to be a core piece in a new iteration of the franchise shows how valuable he’s been.
Even though his current contract isn’t ideal, it’s hard to argue against Poeltl being a hit. He’s a productive post-oriented center in an era where most of them quickly fell out of the league, which is a testament to Poeltl’s ability.
2016 NBA Draft – Pascal Siakam (27th pick)
Selecting Pascal Siakam with the 27th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft will go down as the best draft decision of Ujiri’s career. Siakam was a skilled high-potential power forward who could be developed into one of the best players in his position. He lived up to that mark by becoming a four-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA Selection, and the winner of the 2019 Most Improved Player of the Year.
Siakam has averaged 18.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists over his NBA career, firmly establishing himself as one of the best frontcourt options in the NBA. He led the Raptors until 2023 before Ujiri had to make the hard decision to trade Siakam to the Indiana Pacers, with whom he’d go on to make another NBA Finals appearance in 2025.
This value would’ve been incredible if Siakam were even a lottery pick, let alone one of the final picks in the first round. Ujiri was personally invested in ensuring Siakam develops into a star, which happened sooner than anticipated when Siakam emerged as one of the key starters in their 2019 Championship triumph.
He’s one of the greatest players in Raptors history, so this is better than even a hit; it’s a complete boom pick.
2017 NBA Draft – OG Anunoby (23rd pick)
Ujiri followed up the masterstroke of selecting Siakam by picking up OG Anunoby with the 23rd pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. This was another high-potential selection, with the Raptors hoping to develop Anunoby into a Kawhi Leonard-like figure on the wing with elite defense and strong enough offense.
Anunoby has averaged 13.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.3 steals over his career, establishing himself as one of the best defenders in the NBA. He was a member of the 2019 NBA Championship-winning squad and would emerge as a key player for the franchise before Ujiri traded him to the New York Knicks for Immanuel Quickley and R.J. Barrett in 2023, a move that’s worked out well for both franchises so far.
Similar to Siakam, it’s hard to say Anunoby is anything but a boom selection. He’s one of the best forwards in the NBA now and is playing a leading role for the Knicks in their push for the 2026 NBA Championship. He’s the only pick in this list still competing in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, so he might make his status as one of Ujiri’s best picks even stronger if he can win another title.
2020 NBA Draft – Malachi Flynn (29th pick)
Malachi Flynn was selected with the 29th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, as the Raptors hoped to find another version of Fred VanVleet to warm their bench and potentially develop into his long-term replacement. Unfortunately, Flynn couldn’t step into shoes like that, getting traded to the Knicks as part of the Anunoby trade package in under two seasons. He’s already out of the league after not getting an NBA contract in the 2025 offseason.
Flynn averaged 5.5 points over his career with the Raptors, Knicks, Hornets, and Pistons. He will always be remembered for his surprising 50-point game, something he achieved on a tanking Detroit squad in 2024. The fact that he’s already out of the NBA in less than six seasons says it all.
Even for the 29th pick, it’s clear Ujiri selected a bust in 2020 with more talented players such as Desmond Bane, Tre Jones, Isaiah Joe, Paul Reed, and Sam Merrill getting drafted after Flynn.
2021 NBA Draft – Scottie Barnes (4th pick)
Scottie Barnes might be the best overall player he’s ever drafted, as Barnes is a five-position defender who won Rookie of the Year in 2022 after an incredible rookie season with the franchise. The franchise made a Playoff appearance in Barnes’ rookie season, with the 24-year-old forward still having room to grow.
Even though Barnes is still early in his career, this pick was most definitely a hit. It’s easier to draft a top-tier talent when you have a top-four draft pick, but we’ve seen teams mess up picks like that all the time. He’s averaged 17.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 blocks over five years, with him looking like he will be a member of the Raptors for the foreseeable future.
If Barnes leads the Raptors to an eventual NBA Championship, he’ll move into the Siakam-Anunoby tier of being an absolute boom draft pick. Ujiri didn’t have to dig as hard to find Barnes like he had to for Siakam and Anunoby, but if their results are what they’ll be judged by, this was a fantastic pick.
2023 NBA Draft – Gradey Dick (13th pick)
It’s still early to dismiss Gradey Dick as a bust after Ujiri used a lottery pick on him in the 2023 NBA Draft. However, Dick averaged 6.0 points on 14 minutes per game this season after averaging 14.4 points on 29.4 minutes per game last season. He fell completely out of the team’s rotation by the end of the season.
Since Dick was a pick made by Ujiri, there’s a good chance that the current front office doesn’t see his panning out as an elite NBA scorer and will move on from him.
Dick’s averaged 9.2 points and 2.5 rebounds over his career, with last season being a clear low point. He can still redeem himself as a 22-year-old with great shooting ability in the NBA, but the early verdict on him seems to be that he’s a bust.
2024 NBA Draft – Ja’Kobe Walter (19th pick)
It’s hard to pass judgment on any of Ujiri’s recent draft picks, given that their careers have just started.
Ja’Kobe Walter was selected with the 19th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft to give the franchise a high-potential on-ball threat.
Walter has averaged just 8.0 points since being selected, but he’s shown signs of life over his two seasons. The Raptors relied on him till the end of the season, even giving him Playoff minutes. It’s too soon to tell if he is a boom, a hit, or a bust. What we can say for sure is that this was a satisfactory pick, with Walter making a home for himself on the squad.
2025 NBA Draft – Collin Murray-Boyles (9th pick)
The 2025 NBA Draft was Ujiri’s final one with the Raptors, but it was one he maximized. The franchise drafted Collin Murray-Boyles with the ninth pick in a pick that many questioned at the time. However, Murray-Boyles emerged as one of the best rookie defenders, averaging 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 0.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks over the season.
It’s too soon to tell if Murray-Boyles will emerge as a top-tier player in the NBA, but his rookie season was encouraging. He is looking like a competent two-way threat who might have a breakout season next year and establish himself as one of the hits on this list.
