Masai Ujiri Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Colangelo, Brand, Ujiri, DeRozan

April 11th, 2016 at 9:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The hiring of Bryan Colangelo and resignation of Sam Hinkie doesn’t signal “a departure from a process,” Colangelo insisted Sunday as the Sixers introduced him as their new president of basketball operations, as Christopher A. Vito for The Delaware County Daily Times observes. Colangelo nonetheless expects a “summer of change” for the roster, suggesting that with as many as four draft picks this year, all in the first round, the Sixers will consider parlaying some of that youth into more experienced talent. “You can only have so many developing players on your roster at a time, so there may be some decision to defer some of those to a future date, or may be a decision to package some of those things to acquire players that make sense and fit our strategy,” Colangelo said. “… It’s about putting a basketball team together. We’re really changing our focus toward winning. It’s part of a shift in culture, a mindset. I think [coach] Brett [Brown] is excited about shifting that. … There’s going to be a much-greater likelihood that we win basketball games.”

See more from Philadelphia amid news from the Atlantic Division:

Elton Brand, whose signing earlier this season was one of the team’s first moves away from developing players, thinks he’ll retire at season’s end, Vito notes (Twitter link). Brand, 37, also thought he’d retire this past summer before the Sixers came calling.
GM Masai Ujiri‘s contract with the Raptors is believed to be worth $15MM, according to Sportsnet’s Michael Grange, so it appears the executive is seeing an average of $3MM annually on the five-year deal. Grange wonders whether the Raptors will explore restructuring the pact, which has two years left on it, now that the Knicks are reportedly eyeing him.
DeMar DeRozan admitted Sunday to a fondness for playing in Madison Square Garden, but he said he didn’t know whether he would consider the Knicks in free agency this summer, notes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Of course, it’s par for the course that a soon-to-be free agent would praise the Garden, and all indications are DeRozan will re-sign with the Raptors, as Grange points out, given the shooting guard’s consistent praise for Toronto and the organization.

Knicks See Ujiri As Potential Jackson Successor?

April 6th, 2016 at 10:38am CST by Chuck Myron

Knicks owner James Dolan is exploring potential successors for team president Phil Jackson, with Raptors GM Masai Ujiri believed to be among them, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News indicates and as fellow Daily News scribe Stefan Bondy confirms via Twitter. Jackson can opt out of his contract after next season. The Zen Master is currently pushing for a new multiyear deal for Kurt Rambis that would remove the interim tag from his head coaching title, sources tell Marc Stein and Ian Begley of ESPN.com.

Dolan confidant Irving Azoff supports Jackson and is close with Rambis, according to Isola, who points out that Azoff also has ties to Ujiri. Former Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke, who brought Ujiri to the Raptors, is a business partner of Azoff, Isola notes.

It would be no shock for Ujiri to become heavily sought after given his success with Toronto, which has already set a franchise record with 52 wins this season and is poised to enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, and in Denver, where Ujiri’s final team also set a franchise record with 57 wins. Still, it remains to be seen whether he would have interest in leaving the Raptors for New York, particularly given the strong pull he felt toward the Toronto organization when he left the Nuggets. Plus, his Raptors contract runs for two more years, Isola points out.

Jackson, 70, has been vague about whether he intends to finish the five-year contract he signed to run the Knicks in 2014, though comments he made last month seemed to indicate he doesn’t intend to go anywhere soon. People close to him even reportedly raised the idea he would coach on a part-time basis next season, though Jackson shot that idea down.

Instead, Jackson appears ready to formally give the coaching job to Rambis, an outcome Jackson has reportedly hoped for ever since naming Rambis interim coach in February. New York is just 8-16 since firing former coach Derek Fisher, and sources indicated to Marc Berman of the New York Post that Fisher drew more respect from Knicks players than Rambis does. Carmelo Anthony has said he’d like Jackson to at least listen to other candidates for the head coaching job.

Atlantic Notes: Bennett, Fredette, Jackson

March 3rd, 2016 at 1:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Anthony Bennett‘s camp thought the Raptors never gave him the opportunity to develop and feels coach Dwane Casey doesn’t trust young players, Sportsnet’s Michael Grange writes. GM Masai Ujiri acknowledged Bennett didn’t get as much of a chance in Toronto as the Raptors thought he would, and Casey admitted he probably could have done a better job of finding minutes for the former No. 1 overall pick, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun notes. Still, Grange contends minutes were available for Bennett had he shown he deserved them and believes that while Bennett went on four D-League assignments, he could have approached them more vigorously. See more from the Atlantic Division, with Bennett poised to come off waivers from Toronto at 4pm Central today:

Jimmer Fredette is expected to rejoin the Knicks D-League affiliate now that his 10-day contract with New York is up, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. The Knicks reportedly have no intention of re-signing the former BYU star to the NBA roster.
Knicks team president Phil Jackson hasn’t given any indication that he wants to leave the team, interim coach Kurt Rambis said to reporters, including Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com (ESPN Now link).
Nets GM Sean Marks insists owner Mikhail Prokhorov is on board with a slow rebuild, with Marks telling Brian Lewis of the New York Post that Prokhorov’s willingness to take a patient approach with the roster was clear while he was interviewing for the GM job. The owner reportedly believed as of a few weeks ago that the team could quickly return to contention this summer and said in January that, “I’m sure for the next season, we’ll be, I hope, [a] championship contender.”
Marks also spoke of a desire to find players for next season via 10-day deals the rest of the way this year and said that while he’s open to hiring a coach who runs a system unfamiliar to him, he’ll insist on someone he already has a relationship with, as Lewis relays in the same piece.
The Celtics assigned rookie R.J. Hunter to the D-League today, the team announced (Twitter link). That’s trip No. 3 for last year’s No. 28 pick.

And-Ones: Raptors, Holiday, Middleton, Asik, Draft

January 28th, 2016 at 2:35pm CST by Chuck Myron

Attracting a major free agent to Toronto comes down to the team’s success on the court, Raptors GM Masai Ujiri believes, and Toronto is holding up its end of the bargain so far this year, as Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com examines. The Raptors are in second place in the Eastern Conference, thanks in part to a lineup of Kyle Lowry, Patrick Patterson, offseason signees Cory Joseph and Bismack Biyombo, and the recently extended Terrence Ross that outscores opponents by a whopping 32.6 points per 100 possessions, Arnovitz notes.

“It’s simple: Win,” Ujiri said. “If you have a good culture, you can attract free agents. We have a very unique opportunity here.”

See more on the Raptors amid the latest from around the NBA:

Jrue Holiday has shown flashes of his peak form, and that’s perhaps partly because the Pelicans restricted his minutes earlier in the season as he recovered from a stress reaction in his right leg, writes Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate. Would-be trade suitors have been “petrified” about Holiday’s leg issues, though the Pelicans are reluctant to deal him, as Zach Lowe of ESPN.com wrote this week. “I think it helped me mentally, for one, preparing mentally to feel good,” Holiday said of the minutes restriction, since lifted. “Not to second-guess myself if I’m making a cut or doing a move, especially when it comes to the point where I’m playing back-to-back and playing a lot of minutes. And physically, I do feel really good right now.”
The five-year, $70MM deal that Bucks leading scorer Khris Middleton signed this past offseason is the NBA’s most trade-able contract, opines Keith Smith of RealGM, while Pelicans center Omer Asik‘s five-year pact worth nearly $53MM, also signed this past summer, is the league’s least trade-able deal, Smith writes in a follow-up piece.
LSU combo forward Ben Simmons unsurprisingly tops the latest draft rankings from Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com, with Duke small forward Brandon Ingram second and Providence point guard Kris Dunn third.
Raptors D-League power forward Ronald Roberts, who’s averaging 18.4 points in 34.4 minutes per game, tops the latest D-League prospect rankings.

Eastern Notes: Raptors, Casey, Noah, Pistons

January 13th, 2016 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Raptors GM Masai Ujiri can’t envision the team using all of the four of the first-round picks ticketed to come the team’s way in the next two years, as he told Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, essentially confirming an earlier report from Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun that the team doesn’t plan to add four rookies.

“We already have so many young players,” Ujiri said to Lowe. “And those extra picks over the next two years — we can’t use all those picks. So [a trade] is always something you’re looking at.”

Still, most signs point to the Raptors standing pat for now, with Ujiri believing that increased parity will reduce the volume of swaps, Lowe writes. See more on the Raptors amid the latest from the Eastern Conference:

Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are advocates for Dwane Casey‘s continued presence as Raptors coach, Lowe notes in the same piece. Toronto has a team option for next season on Casey’s contract.
Joakim Noah has returned from his shoulder injury, but he isn’t playing much, and he remains displeased with where he stands in the eyes of the Bulls, a source tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, adding that the center isn’t enamored with coach Fred Hoiberg. The source cautioned that Noah hasn’t been a distraction. The Bulls have reportedly made Noah available for a trade, and I examined his trade candidacy last month.
Reggie Jackson is entrenched as the starter, Brandon Jennings and Steve Blake are on expiring contracts and Spencer Dinwiddie appears poised to stay on D-League assignment for the long haul, but Stan Van Gundy is once more casting doubt on the idea of trading a point guard, notes MLive’s David Mayo. “I think there’s a very good chance that we don’t move any of those guys before the trade deadline,” Van Gundy said. The Pistons coach/executive added that the team still has hopes for Dinwiddie, who said GM Jeff Bower told him he’ll be in the D-League for the rest of the season, but Dinwiddie has to show he’s “better than just being a roster guy,” Van Gundy said, as Mayo relays.

Eastern Notes: Mozgov, Lee, Ujiri

January 7th, 2016 at 3:19pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Cavaliers center Timofey Mozgov has seen himself go from a starter to a reserve this season, which has multiple teams inquiring about his availability via trade, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports relays. Cleveland has not expressed any desire to move the center publicly, but the team’s daunting luxury tax bill, as well as Mozgov’s pending free agency, could eventually persuade the team to deal him, Spears adds. The 29-year-old has appeared in 30 games for the Cavaliers this season, including 25 as a starter, and he is averaging 6.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per night.

Here’s more from out of the Eastern Conference:

Wesley Matthews “badly wanted” this past summer to sign with the Raptors, who had mutual interest, but the thought of signing a player still recovering from a torn Achilles tendon was too much for the Raptors to bear, Sportsnet’s Michael Grange writes. That led Toronto to DeMarre Carroll, who’s since suffered injuries of his own, though GM Masai Ujiri played hardball, telling Carroll when he met with him that the team’s offer would come off the table if he didn’t commit before the end of the meeting. Carroll, of course, ended up signing with the Raptors for $58MM over four years. It’s much too early to say the Carroll signing was a mistake, but his injury illustrates how even seemingly safe choices carry risk, leaving the Raptors in limbo, Grange argues.
Ujiri said he was “torn” before he made the decision to turn down a “great offer” to stay with the Nuggets to become Raptors GM in the summer of 2013, calling Denver team president Josh Kroenke “like a brother” in an appearance on “The Vertical” podcast with Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (audio link at 21:30 mark). “It haunts you for a long time,” Ujiri said. “I know I made the right decision, but sometimes I don’t know if I failed with loyalty there.” Still, the lure of the Raptors, whom Ujiri called a top-three organization in the league, proved too strong.
David Lee chose his words carefully as he expressed frustration and disagreement to reporters about the decision Celtics coach Brad Stevens made to take him out of the rotation, making it clear that he still respects the coach and hadn’t requested a trade, as MassLive’s Jay King relays. Still, Lee said that his lack of playing time is more frustrating this year than it was in Golden State last year. The Celtics are already reportedly making him available in trade talk.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Draft History: Masai Ujiri

May 30th, 2015 at 3:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The 2015 NBA draft is less than a month away, and for teams that aren’t still participating in the NBA playoffs, the focus is on using that event to build toward a better future. Now that the NBA Draft lottery is complete, the speculation can truly begin as to which player each franchise will pin its hopes on for the future. Of course, having one of the top selections in any draft doesn’t guarantee that a team will snag a future All-Star. Team executives and scouts still have the difficult task of making the correct call with their picks.

With this in mind we at Hoops Rumors will be taking a look back at the draft history of the primary basketball executive for each NBA team. Their names, reputations, and possibly employment will be on the line as a result of the decisions to come on June 25th, and we’ll be examining what they’ve done in previous years in charge of a club’s front office. Note that many of them have played other sorts of roles within a team’s executive structure, but this won’t take that into account. We’ll continue onward with a look back at the calls made by Raptors GM Masai Ujiri.

Nuggets (August 2010-May 2013)

2011 Draft

No. 22 Overall — Kenneth Faried: 281 games, 12.2 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 1.1 APG. .541/.091/.654.
No. 26 Overall — Jordan Hamilton*: 140 games, 5.5 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 0.7 APG. .405/.366/.671.
No. 56 Overall — Chukwudiebere Maduabum**: No regular season NBA appearances.

*Acquired as part of three-team trade with Blazers and Mavericks along with Andre Miller and a 2014 second-rounder in exchange for Raymond Felton.

**Acquired from the Lakers in exchange for a 2013 second-rounder (Alex Oriakhi).

Players passed over or available at draft slot: Nikola Mirotic (No. 23), Reggie Jackson (No. 24), Jimmy Butler (No. 30), Chandler Parsons (No. 38), and Isaiah Thomas (No. 60).

2012 Draft

No. 20 Overall — Evan Fournier: 172 games, 8.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 1.6 APG. .437/.380/.744.
No. 38 Overall — Quincy Miller: 69 games, 4.3 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 0.5 APG. .350/.292/.706.
No. 50 Overall — Izzet Turkyilmaz: No regular season NBA appearances.

Players passed over or available at draft slot: Draymond Green (No. 35) and Khris Middleton (No. 39).

Raptors (May 2013-Present)

2013 Draft

No first-rounder. The No. 12 overall pick (Steven Adams) owned by the Thunder.
No second-rounder. The No. 41 overall pick (Jamaal Franklin) owned by the Grizzlies.

Players passed over or available at draft slot: Adams (No. 12), Giannis Antetokounmpo (No. 15), and Rudy Gobert (No. 27).

2014 Draft

No. 20 Overall — Bruno Caboclo: 8 games, 1.3 PPG, 0.3 RPG, and 0.1 BPG. .333/.667/.000.
No. 37 Overall — DeAndre Daniels: No regular season NBA appearances.

*Traded the No. 59 overall pick (Xavier Thames) to the Nets for cash.

Players passed over or available at draft slot: Rodney Hood (No. 23), K.J. McDaniels (No. 32), and Jordan Clarkson (No. 46).

Raptors GM Vows To Add Canadian Players

March 10th, 2015 at 8:58am CST by Chuck Myron

There are no Canadians on the Raptors roster, but GM Masai Ujiri considers it a priority to have one soon, as he told an audience at a forum for Canadian basketball Monday, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun relays. Ujiri, who’s in year two of a five-year contract, promised that the team will have a Canadian player even if he doesn’t have a long tenure in charge of the Raptors.

“We are studying it. I even considered last year hiring somebody to concentrate just on Canadian players and I think I’m going to go through with it because the growth of the game here is so big,” Ujiri said. “It’s the fit. We can maybe take our time and study it a little bit so it is the right fit and not do it just to do it. It’s going to come, there is no doubt in my mind. It’s an obligation that I think we have to fulfil. We are a Canadian team and I think to have Canadian players, I think will be phenomenal.”

Ujiri hinted that he’d like to have Andrew Wiggins, but with the 2014 No. 1 pick ensconced in Minnesota in the first year of his rookie scale contract, Ujiri will probably have to look elsewhere for domestic talent. It’s a light draft market for Canadians this year, particularly if Kentucky freshman power forward Trey Lyles doesn’t declare for early entry. Joel Anthony is the only native of Canada who’s up for unrestricted free agency this summer. Steve Nash, who was born in South Africa but identifies himself as a Canadian after having grown up there, will be an unrestricted free agent, too, but the 41-year-old is likely finished with his NBA career. Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph are due for restricted free agency.

The Kings apparently shopped Nik Stauskas before the deadline while the Magic were reportedly willing to trade Andrew Nicholson and the Wolves seemingly raised the name of Anthony Bennett in trade discussions. Dwight Powell has already been traded three times since Charlotte drafted him this past June. The Raptors reportedly attempted to trade for Tyler Ennis around draft time and came up short, though the Suns shipped him to the Bucks at last month’s deadline. Kelly Olynyk is another native of Canada, though he seems entrenched with the Celtics on year two of his rookie scale contract.

It’s unusual for a GM to tether himself to a promise of acquiring a player with local ties, even if Ujiri has designated the entire country of Canada as his target. Anthony is a Montreal native and Nash grew up in British Columbia, but aside from them, the NBA’s Canadians are all from Ontario, with most hailing from Toronto.

Nuggets Notes: Kroenke, Ujiri, D’Alessandro

November 3rd, 2013 at 2:02pm CST by Charlie Adams

The new-look Nuggets have yet to win a game in the 2013/14 season and find themselves underneath the Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, and Thunder in the Northwest Division. There’s still a lot of basketball to be played, and the Nuggets are surely looking forward to Ty Lawson‘s health improving and the return of forwards Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari down the road. Here’s some Denver-related notes from around the league:

Nuggets president Josh Kroenke isn’t satisfied with the mild success his team has enjoyed in recent years, but Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post argues the team needn’t strip down the roster to build a true contender, instead advocating the team pool its assets and trade for a star.
The Nuggets came close to trading for a high draft pick this past June, Hochman reveals in the same piece.
The departures of Masai Ujiri, Pete D’Alessandro and others from the Nuggets front office this summer is an affirmation rather than an indictment of Kroenke and the Denver organization, which is already drawing raves for its new hires, as fellow Post scribe Christopher Dempsey observes.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Bryant, Nuggets, D’Antoni

August 24th, 2013 at 8:04pm CST by Spencer Lund

As fallout from the Ric Bucher revelations about Dwight Howard's demands to remain with the Lakers continues, CBS Sports' Matt Moore looks at how Bucher's quotes have been portrayed in the media. While listing the headlines, Moore shows that they've primarily focused on the Lakers protecting Kobe Bryant in lieu of Howard's stipulation that he not be re-signed next summer.

As we already updated, Howard never explicitly said that he'd re-sign with the Lakers if Mike D'Antoni were ousted as coach. The focus in the media, as Moore shows, was on the back-and-forth between Bryant and Howard: two superstars possessing egos that wouldn't allow them to co-exist on the same roster, and how the Lakers would rather let Dwight walk than entertain the idea of Bryant leaving LA.

Here's some more on the Lakers chances next season, and a report card on the Nuggets tumultuous offseason…

Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver gives the Nuggets an F in his recent offseason report card grade at SI's The Point Forward blog.
Golliver compares the offseason of the Pacers with the Nuggets to show how, despite both teams experiencing impressive regular seasons, the Pacers continued to trend up in the playoffs, and the Nuggets failed to keep everything together this summer.
They lost GM Masai Ujiri – who accepted the Raptors' high-paying GM role – and the 2013 NBA Coach of the Year George Karl – who they did not retain for the final year of his contract.
Not only did the Nuggets lose their coach and GM, but they also lost free agent Andre Iguodala to the Warriors in a three-team deal involving the Jazz, Nuggets and Warriors.
Unlike the Pacers – who were able to re-sign David West this summer and significantly upgrade their bench – the Nuggets signed offense-first players like Nate Robinson and J.J. Hickson and allowed others, like defensive wing-stopper Iggy, to bolt the sinking ship.
HoopsWorld's Jabari Davis put together a plan for the Lakers while pretending to be their GM during a chat with readers earlier today.
In his plan, Davis said the Lakers should try and land a top 12 spot in next summer's heralded 2014 NBA Draft.
Davis also discusses the possibility that Jordan Farmar and Steve Blake improve next season, how the additions of Nick Young, Wesley Johnson and Farmer's athleticism will translate well with D'Antoni's uptempo offense and the chances Bryant sits out the full season – similar to Derrick Rose last season with the Bulls – while they attempt to position themselves higher in the the 2014 draft.
Davis also believes the Lakers can win between 44-47 games next season and finish with a 6-8 seed in the West if Pau Gasol, Steve Nash and Bryant all play at least 70 games together.