Masai Ujiri is out as vice chairman and president of the Toronto Raptors, sources instructed ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The Raptors are anticipated to conduct a full seek for the following president of basketball operations, sources added.
His departure comes a day after the conclusion of the NBA draft and simply earlier than free company begins Monday.
The Raptors went 30-52 this previous season and missed the postseason for the third straight 12 months.
Ujiri, who was within the ultimate 12 months of his contract, joined the Raptors as basic supervisor in 2013, successful the NBA’s Government of the Yr Award that season, earlier than main Toronto to the franchise’s solely NBA title in 2019.
He performed faculty basketball at Bismarck State School, a juco, after which Montana State. After a quick skilled taking part in profession in Europe, he started his profession off the courtroom as a scout in 2002 and landed his first GM job with the Denver Nuggets in 2011.
Ujiri grew up in Zaria, Nigeria. His sturdy ties to Africa and philanthropic endeavors helped him change into the director of the NBA’s Basketball With out Borders program in 2003, the identical 12 months he established a nonprofit referred to as Giants of Africa in his hometown. That group that has expanded throughout greater than a dozen African international locations, holding camps and constructing basketball infrastructure as a method to establish and develop basketball expertise throughout the continent.