The Toronto Raptors will enter a new era in the 2025-26 NBA season.
In 2013, Masai Ujiri was awarded the NBA Executive of the Year Award with the Denver Nuggets. Despite this, he left the franchise.
Instead, he signed with the Toronto Raptors, and after a 12-year stint, the franchise decided to say goodbye to Ujiri.
In the sudden exit, there are rumors about Ujiri’s next NBA team. Additionally, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst speculated about the reasons behind Ujiri’s firing. Now another person shares the same cent with his two cents.
Ujiri will always hold a special place in the hearts of Raptors fans when he builds the team’s roster that won the 2019 NBA Championship.
However, since then, raptors have struggled to compete in the Eastern Conference. They traded for Brandon Ingram last season to build a new core, but the move reportedly backfired due to Ujiri.
“What I was told was that a lot of the outside candidates who really, really pushed back some of the moves that Masai and the company have made over the past few years have really been pushed back.
“One of them went to call Ingram the hopeless hail Mary. That’s not surprising, right?” Raptors insider Josh Lewenberg said of TSN’s overdrive.
The Raptors promoted general manager Bobby Webster to the new president of basketball operations. Lewenberg explained how Webster differs from his predecessor.
“If I’m hoping to see some changes, or at least some differences, their vision may not be entirely different, but these are a lot of behind the scenes that may not be reflected on the roster in the sense that they are two very different people,” he said.
Despite Webster being the first executive rental of Ujiri’s Raptors, the two reportedly have an opposing approach to the polar regions in terms of approach to basketball.
According to Lewenberg, it is also imminent in the character of Webster and Ujiri.
“Like Masai, you know more personality and persona than life. Bobby isn’t that guy, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad thing.
I think he’s more modest, realistic and certainly more relevant. But I think Maasai has become a celebrity over the years and there are certain things that come with it,” Lwenberg continued.
Webster doesn’t have a flashy personality, but that doesn’t mean he’s not so respected by his peers.
“Bobby, on the other hand, he can dress down, but he’s still young enough to relate to a lot of players, fans and just people.
“He can cut it up by anyone, while he can also wear a suit, and he is highly regarded and respected by his peers. I think he’s been showing it over the years,” concluded the Raptors insider.