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Masai Ujiri is a splashy name to fill the Dallas Mavericks’ president of basketball operations (and alternate governor) position, and one sure to spark endless fodder for debate for podcasters and basketball content creators.
Is Ujiri washed? Or is he the dose of stability that this franchise needs as the Mavericks stare down the task of building around Cooper Flagg? His 12 years heading up basketball operations for the Toronto Raptors, which ended one day after the 2025 NBA Draft after three straight years missing the playoffs, offers definitive evidence both ways.
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Ujiri was introduced as the Mavericks’ head man in a press conference on Tuesday at American Airlines Center, an affair that offered little to sway members of either camp.
“To come to this storied organization, the Dallas Mavericks, to come back to the NBA, it’s a blessing and I’m honored and humbled to have this very unique opportunity,” Ujiri said.
“There’s no other way to do this than winning,” he added, when asked for the first time about helping the organization move on from the tumult that started with trading Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers. “There’s a saying in Africa. When kings go, kings come. The king went, and we have a little prince here that we’re going to turn into a king, and I think we have to start thinking that way here.”
Lost in all the banter about what he learned during his year off, musings about coming up in the world of professional basketball and obligatory responses about the trade of Luka Dončić, which went down a full 15 months ago, while Ujiri was still leading the Raptors’ front office, was any clarity surrounding how decision-making will happen in this Mavericks’ front office.
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Of course, he’ll be the final word on roster- and basketball-related decisions. He’s here to fill the role traditionally manned by a “general manager,” terminology that has apparently gone completely out of style in NBA circles these days. But he dodged questions about head coach Jason Kidd’s future with the franchise and mentioned co-interim general managers Matt Riccardi and…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/masai-ujiri-introductory-press-conference-120600227.html
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Publish date : 2026-05-06 12:06:00
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