Masai Ujiri is out as Raptors president, but the criticism hasn’t stopped. According to TSN’s Josh Lewenberg, several external candidates for the job pushed back hard on Ujiri’s recent roster decisions during their interviews, with one reportedly calling the trade for Brandon Ingram a “desperate Hail Mary.”
“According to multiple sources, some of the external candidates that were interviewed for the president position pushed back on recent roster decisions made by Ujiri and his front office,” wrote Lewenberg. “One went as far as calling the trade to acquire Ingram in February a ‘desperate Hail Mary.”
Ujiri was in charge during the Raptors’ 2019 championship run, and he was once considered one of the top executives in the league. Over the past six years, however, the Raptors have been on a steady decline, and Ujiri was blamed for the downward trajectory, despite their expensive roster.
“They questioned the team’s post-championship leadership and internal development and pointed out its salary crunch,” Lewenberg continued.
The Raptors fired Ujiri in June, but his decisions are still lingering over the franchise. While he played a major role in the acquisition of stars like Kawhi Leonard and Marc Gasol, he also traded Pascal Siakam from the franchise, a move that many detest to this day.
This past summer, in what turned out to be his final offseason, Ujiri made no major additions, marking yet another forgettable summer for the Raptors. After finishing 11th in the East, they didn’t even make the play-in, and expectations aren’t much higher next season for a roster devoid of star power.
Yet, somehow, they are going into the 2025-26 campaign with the league’s eighth-highest payroll and over $59 million owed to Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett. That’s not counting the newly acquired Brandon Ingram, who is owed at least $119 million over the next three years.
At 27 years old, Brandon Ingram is a good addition on paper as a former All-Star with averages of 19.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game on 46.5% shooting for his career. He actually joined the team in February, but missed all of last season due to an ankle injury he suffered on the Pelicans.
In a weakened Eastern Conference, with Scottie Barnes and solid role-players in the mix, Ujiri might have thought that Ingram would be the final piece to elevating his team to a place of contention. At the very least, he was expecting it to be enough for the Raptors to make the playoffs.
Ultimately, the Raptors never gave him a chance to see it through. Before Ingram was able to play a single game for the Raptors, Ujiri was let go, and critics aren’t very high on the roster he left behind. The biggest gripe among the fans is the crowded wing rotation, which now includes Ingram, Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Garrett Temple.
In the end, Masai Ujiri will always be remembered as the architect of the Raptors’ only championship, but his legacy is increasingly defined by what came after. From coaching instability to talent mismanagement and questionable trade decisions, Ujiri’s final years raised more questions than they answered, and now a new front office will be tasked with cleaning up the mess.
With high payroll, overlapping skill sets, and no clear long-term direction, Toronto enters a pivotal season stuck somewhere between a soft rebuild and a playoff push. Whatever comes next, it won’t be Ujiri’s vision anymore, and that may be the most encouraging sign of all for Raptors fans looking ahead.
