On Wednesday, Masai Ujiri FaceTimed with Collin Murray-Boyles, the defensive dynamo the Toronto Raptors had just selected with the ninth pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. “This is awesome, we’re so happy to have you,” Ujiri told him.
At the time, though, Ujiri knew that he wasn’t sticking around to see Murray-Boyles develop. He’d known for some time, according to Keith Pelley, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment’s president and CEO, that his tenure as Raptors president would not continue into next season. It is extremely atypical for a team to announce the departure of its lead executive directly after the draft, but Ujiri wanted to see the process through.
“Why the timing now? So, Masai and I spoke to each other over a month ago and he asked that if a change were to happen, that it was post-draft,” Pelley told reporters Friday. “And that made the most sense, not to disrupt the draft process. We were holding the ninth pick, a top-10 pick, and of course Masai’s — not only his area of passion but his area of expertise, he’s prolific when it comes to the draft. And we were grateful to have him as the person, with Bobby [Webster], leading our draft.”
Collin Murray-Boyles addresses viral reaction to being picked by Raptors in NBA Draft 2025
Robby Kalland
Pelley said that he and Ujiri had “been chatting for probably the last couple of months, last two or three months, about the future.” Asked directly when Ujiri was told he was done, Pelley said: “We talked earlier, at the beginning of this month.”
Webster, Toronto’s general manager, will be among the candidates interviewed for the team’s now-vacant president role, Pelley said. Webster has signed a contract…
..
