DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks hired former Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri as team president and alternate governor on Monday.
Ujiri was in charge of the Raptors when they acquired Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs and won the 2018-19 NBA title in Leonard’s only season with Toronto.
The 55-year-old Ujiri replaces Nico Harrison, who was fired as general manager in November, nine months after trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that ended up being a significant setback for the Mavericks.
Ujiri was with the Raptors for 13 seasons, getting fired as president and vice chairman last June. He was first hired as executive vice president and general manager.
The club said Ujiri would be in charge of all aspects of basketball operations while working with team leadership on the long-term direction of the Mavericks.
Former Dallas guard Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi had served as co-general managers since Harrison was fired. They engineered the trade of Anthony Davis to Washington in February. The oft-injured center was the centerpiece for Dallas in the ill-fated Doncic deal.
Ujiri inherits a new face of the franchise in Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick last summer. The Mavericks landed Flagg in the draft lottery despite just a 1.8% chance to get the top pick. Dallas has a 6.7% chance in this year’s lottery.
The Mavericks could emerge as playoff contenders despite missing the postseason the past two years following a run to the 2024 NBA Finals behind Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Dallas lost to Boston in five games.
If Ujiri keeps Irving, the Mavericks will have a pair of one-and-done Duke alums in him and Flagg, who led the Blue Devils to the Final Four as just the fourth freshman to win Associated Press men’s player of the year honors.
Irving and Flagg haven’t played together because Irving ended up missing the entire season after tearing an ACL in March 2025.
Dallas also has a promising young center from Duke in Dereck Lively II, who has had several injury issues in his three seasons.
Other pieces of the Dallas core include four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson, who recovered from a slow start to have a solid year from 3-point range. He finished the season fourth all-time in 3-point buckets.
Forward P.J. Washington was a key contributor on the team that went to the finals, and Naji Marshall became a scoring options on an injury-depleted roster.
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