tamil yogi
Mavericks hire Masai Ujiri as president, alternate governorplayStephen A. gives Cooper Flagg his flowers after ROY win (2:59)Stephen A. Smith explains why he voted for Cooper Flagg over Kon Knueppel for Rookie of the Year. (2:59)Tim MacMahonClose
ESPN Staff Writer
The Dallas Mavericks have agreed to hire Masai Ujiri as their team president and alternate governor, landing a lead basketball executive with proven champion experience after a six-month search process, the team unveiled Monday.
Ujiri was the architect of the Toronto Raptors’ 2018-19 championship team, the highlight of his 15-year tenure as a lead basketball executive in the NBA. He also won the Executive of the Year award in 2012-13 with the Denver Nuggets.
A news conference with Mavs governor Patrick Dumont and Ujiri is planned for Tuesday in Dallas.
“The Dallas Mavericks are committed to being a world-class organization with a strong culture and focused on winning championships. Masai Ujiri is one of the great basketball leaders of this generation and his addition to our franchise is a critical step in meeting our goals,” Dumont mentioned in a statement. “We are honored to have him join the Mavs family. We welcome his energy and determination along with his leadership, experience and many accomplishments as a basketball executive. We are very excited about the future of our team.”
The hiring of Ujiri, whose teams in Denver and Toronto had a 690-504 record and made the playoffs in 12 of his 15 seasons in charge, follows a pattern of Dumont pursuing experienced executives with impressive credentials to run his franchise. He hired former Golden State Warriors president Rick Welts as the Mavs’ chief executive officer in December 2024, luring the Hall of Famer out of retirement to run Dallas’ business operations as the team begins planning for a new arena.
Editor’s Picks
The Mavs had preliminary interest in some current lead basketball executives of other franchises, particularly Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, sources mentioned. However, the Mavs moved on in part due to doubts that the Timberwolves would grant permission to engage in discussions with Connelly, who has one season remaining on his contract.
Ujiri, 55, was highly recommended to Dumont as he discussed candidates with people within the league that he trusts, sources mentioned.
Dumont first met with Ujiri during a four-hour lunch in Las Vegas in December. Welts and Mavs president of business operations Ethan Casson also met with Ujiri early in the process.
Ujiri did not work in the NBA this season after the Raptors parted ways with him following the draft.
Over several conversations in the months since, Dumont became confident that Ujiri excels in the areas that the Mavs’ governor considered a priority for his new lead basketball executive, such as being able to build a strong culture, possessing outstanding communication skills and a deep level of commitment.
“I’m honored to join the Dallas Mavericks and step into this role at such an important time for the organization,” Ujiri mentioned in a statement. “This is a franchise with a proud history, passionate fans, and a commitment to winning. I look forward to working with our players, coaches, and leadership team to build something that reflects that standard and competes at the highest level. We will win in Dallas.”
Mavs minority owner Mark Cuban, who sold the majority share of the franchise to the Adelson and Dumont families in December 2023, was not directly involved in the search process.
The Mavs’ lead basketball executive role has been open since Dumont fired general manager Nico Harrison on Nov. 11. That decision was made after Dallas stumbled to a 3-8 start amid continued, intense fan backlash stemming from the shocking trade of perennial All-NBA selection Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025, only months removed from the Mavs’ appearance in the 2024 NBA Finals.
After Harrison’s dismissal, Dallas pivoted to prioritize a long-term build around No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, the teenage sensation who won Rookie of the Year honors. Harrison had emphasized a “three- to four-year” window of contending with Kyrie Irving, who sat out the entire season while recovering from knee surgery, and Anthony Davis, the oft-injured, 10-time All-Star big man acquired as the centerpiece in the Doncic deal’s return.
The Mavs, whose front office was run the rest of the season by Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi after their promotion to co-interim general managers, traded Davis to the Washington Wizards before the February deadline. That deal, in which the Mavs also shed the contracts of D’Angelo Russell and Jaden Hardy, was primarily done to create financial flexibility to reshape the roster this summer.
Finley and Riccardi interviewed with Dumont during the search process. Sources mentioned Dumont informed both of them over the weekend that the franchise would hire someone else, expressing appreciation for their strong work under difficult circumstances this season. Their futures with the franchise will be determined after discussions with Ujiri.
Dallas finished the season with a 26-56 record, giving the Mavs the eighth-best odds in the draft lottery.
While Dumont was patient in his search for Harrison’s successor, he deemed it necessary to have a new hire in place in advance of the NBA draft combine that begins May 10. This is a critical draft for the Mavs, who do not have control of their own first-round pick again until 2031 due to trades made to build a contending roster around Doncic. Dallas owns two first-round picks in this draft: its own lottery pick and the No. 30 pick, which was acquired from Washington in the Davis trade.
Ujiri has a deep background in scouting, breaking into the NBA as a scout in 2002 after his decade-long overseas playing career ended. His draft picks for the Raptors included All-Stars DeMar DeRozan, Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes.
Ujiri established a nonprofit called Giants of Africa in 2003, an organization expanding across more than a dozen African countries, holding camps and building basketball infrastructure as a way to identify and develop basketball talent, as well as enriching the lives of youth on the continent and encouraging them to chase their dreams.
Last month, Ujiri joined the ownership group of the Toronto Tempo, the city’s new WNBA franchise that begins play this season.
✔ today silver rate
✔ 2026 winter olympics
✔ chat gtp
✔ silver rate today
✔ silver rate today live
✔ 2030 winter olympics
Sports
