Toronto Raptors team president Masai Ujiri is reportedly interested in the vacancy for the same job with the New York Knicks.
Masai Ujiri is one of the best executives in the NBA and he’s likely to be at the top of the New York Knicks‘ wishlist as they search for a new team president. Marc Stein of the New York Times is now reporting that Ujiri to New York is not as much of a pipedream as some would believe.
“Two longtime Ujiri-watchers whom I trust deeply for their reads on this situation have been telling me since December, when the Knicks fired Coach David Fizdale after a 4-18 start, that Ujiri intends to maneuver his way to the Knicks after his moves helped the Raptors win a championship last season,” Stein wrote.
There’s no doubt about it, Ujiri is one of the top candidates to replace the ousted Steve Mills in New York. It won’t be easy to pry him away from the Toronto Raptors—he’s under contract through 2020-21—but the Knicks have a treasure chest of draft picks to make it work. Stein notes that it would likely cost multiple draft picks to make it work.
In addition to the Ujiri whispers, there are multiple reports that suggest the Knicks could look to follow the lead of the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers in hiring a player agent to run the front office.
For the time being, general manager Scott Perry is running the show in New York. With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, the Knicks have plenty of tough decisions to make. It’s unclear how the decisions made in the next couple of days will impact the team’s search for its next president.