The architect of Toronto’s lone NBA championship is on his way out.

Raptors team president Masai Ujiri is departing the organization after 13 years that covered the most successful era in team history.

Ownership Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment made the move with one year remaining on his contract. ESPN's Shams Charania was first to report the news Friday morning before it was officially announced in a news release by MLSE.

On Friday, MLSE also announced a contract extension for general manager Bobby Webster, who was hired by Ujiri early in his tenure. 

Ujiri's departs just a day after the NBA Draft and less than a week preceding the opening of free agency on Monday, June 30. Toronto took forward Collin Murray-Boyles out of South Carolina with their ninth overall selection in the draft and Florida guard Alijah Martin in the second round a day later.

“During his 13 seasons with the Raptors, Masai has helped transform the organization on the court and has been an inspirational leader off it,” said MLSE President and CEO Keith Pelley in a news release. “He brought an NBA Championship to Toronto and urged us to believe in this city, and ourselves. We are grateful for all he has done and wish him and his family the very best. As we plan for the franchise’s future, and its return to the NBA Playoffs, a search for the successor as president of the Raptors, led by CAA Executive Search, will begin immediately.”

According to NBA reporter Marc Stein, Ujiri has emerged as a candidate in Atlanta's recent search for a president of basketball operations.

The Raptors finished the 2024-25 season at 30-52, their second consecutive season with a record under .500 and the third straight they’ve missed the postseason after reaching the playoffs eight times in nine seasons from 2014 to 2022.

Born in England but raised in Nigeria, Ujiri started his executive career in 2002 as a scout for the Orlando Magic. He quickly joined the Denver Nuggets as a scout and in 2008, became the Raptors assistant general manager under then-GM Bryan Colangelo. Ujiri returned to the Nuggets in 2010 as general manager, pulling off the blockbuster Carmelo Anthony trade with the New York Knicks in 2011 and winning the league’s Executive of the Year Award in 2013.

Ujiri joined the Raptors as executive vice president and general manager in 2013 and again made a mark on his new team by trading away a key player early on, sending former No. 1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani to the Knicks in a move that helped open the team up to young guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.

Those two were the driving force behind Toronto’s success in the next era, reaching the playoffs every year from 2014 to 2018. However, after three straight playoff series losses to the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers, Ujiri made his biggest move yet, trading DeRozan, centre Jakob Poeltl and a protected first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs in a deal for superstar Kawhi Leonard and sharpshooter Danny Green in the summer of 2018.

The deal wasn’t without risk. DeRozan had proven to be one of the better scoring wings in the NBA, and Leonard was both injured and had just one year remaining on his contract. But it was also clear the Raptors needed a push over the top having been bounced in the Eastern Conference semifinals in two straight years, and they hoped Leonard would be healthy enough to give them just that.

Leonard’s only year in Toronto went about as well as anyone could have hoped as Toronto’s run to the Larry O’Brien Trophy was filled with memorable moments no Raptors fan will ever forget.

It wasn’t enough to keep Leonard long-term, losing him to the Los Angeles Clippers, but the Raps remained competitive through the COVID-19-shortened 2019-20 season and actually finished with a higher winning percentage (.736) than they did the year they won the title.

A conference semis loss that year in the bubble gave way to a difficult next few seasons as Toronto compiled a record of .500 or better just one time with one playoff appearance – a first-round loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2022 – in the five seasons that followed.

The Raptors have undergone major changes since, with core championship pieces Lowry, OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam all departing via trade or free agency over the last couple years.

Ujiri departs the Raptors with pieces to work with on their current roster behind franchise cornerstone Scottie Barnes, including Canadian RJ Barrett, guard Immanuel Quickly and forward Brandon Ingram, whose arrival at the trade deadline and subsequent contract extension proved to be the last big move made by Ujiri during his tenure.