The Dallas Mavericks finally have their guy. After a six-month search to replace Nico Harrison, the Mavericks landed Masai Ujiri as their new president of basketball operations and alternate governor. The hire was reported by Shams Charania and confirmed by the team Friday afternoon.
This is the home run hire Mavericks fans were demanding ever since the Luka Doncic trade detonated this franchise. Patrick Dumont needed a credible basketball mind. He got the executive who built the only championship team in Toronto Raptors history.
Ujiri spent 12 years running the Raptors from 2013 to 2025, winning Executive of the Year, drafting Pascal Siakam, trading for Kawhi Leonard, and lifting the franchise to its 2019 NBA title. His career playoff record as a lead executive in Denver and Toronto stands at 690 wins and 504 losses with 12 postseason appearances in 15 seasons. The man knows how to win.
How It Came Together
Dumont and Ujiri first met for a four-hour lunch in Las Vegas in December. The Mavericks governor came away convinced that Ujiri had the culture-building skills, communication ability, and competitive obsession that the franchise had been missing. Several follow-up conversations later, the hire was finalized this week.
The Mavericks did show preliminary interest in Minnesota Timberwolves president Tim Connelly along the way. They quickly moved on after concluding that Minnesota would never give them permission to talk, and that pursuing Connelly publicly would only damage the search. Ujiri was the play all along.
What Ujiri Inherits
A complicated mess. The post-Luka Mavericks have Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson aging out, a young core that needs identity, and a fan base that is somewhere between distrustful and openly hostile. The Western Conference is loaded. The cap sheet has limited flexibility.
Ujiri also inherits the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft after the Mavs won the lottery in stunning fashion last week. Cooper Flagg is the consensus top prospect on most boards, with AJ Dybantsa edging him on ESPN’s board. Whoever Ujiri picks becomes the face of the next era in Dallas.
He also inherits the heat that comes with Mark Cuban being on the sideline. Cuban broke his silence Friday on his failed attempt to buy the team back from Dumont. The former owner is still around. He is going to have opinions. Ujiri is going to need patience.
What This Means for the West
Ujiri changes the gravity of the conference. He has a reputation for being aggressive in trade talks, willing to swing on stars, and ruthless in his evaluation of his own roster. The Lakers, Suns, and Warriors all have aging cores. Ujiri can smell a deal from a mile away.
His first big test comes in three weeks at the NBA Draft. His second comes on July 1 in free agency. His third comes at the trade deadline next February. He has time and he has draft capital. The Mavericks have not been this interesting in 18 months.
The Bottom Line
Ujiri is one of the most respected basketball executives on the planet. He gets paid like a CEO. He talks like a politician. He builds rosters like an architect. The Mavericks just bought themselves credibility that they could not buy any other way.
Now he has to deliver. Dumont gave him control of all basketball operations. The clock starts now. A franchise that has been chasing relevance since Luka left finally has someone in the building who knows how to find it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
