Toronto Raptors President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri is generally regarded as one of the league’s better executives. The man made the pivotal decision to part with budding superstar and fan favorite DeMar DeRozan to reel in Kawhi Leonard and the move led to a championship over the superteam Golden State Warriors.
Granted, the Raps only had Leonard for one season, but they still got a championship out of it. It was the right move and it was a bold one.
Ujiri also got a future All-Star with the fourth pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, despite missing out on Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green, and Evan Mobley, who were all viewed in a different stratosphere than the rest of the draft class. As it turns out, Barnes has been better than each player selected before him.
Ujiri has come under fire in recent months for several of his more recent moves, such as letting Fred VanVleet walk, despite not having a better back-up plan. Or holding onto Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby for far too long.
Masai Ujiri’s decision to trade for Jakob Poeltl could spell long-term doom for the Raps
But one of the potentially most disastrous moves Ujiri has made recently was the Jakob Poeltl deal from 2023, as the franchise traded a 2024 lottery pick (top-six protected) for Poeltl, who they later gave a boatload of money to ($80 million over four years).
