Toronto Raptors president for basketball operations Masai Ujiri is definitely the man of the moment, with the 48-year-old team executive widely considered to have been the driving force behind Toronto's unprecedented championship run.
Nonetheless, Ujiri certainly knows how to give credit where it is due, as he continued to highlight the contributions of DeMar DeRozan, Jonas Valanciunas, and Dwane Casey — all of which have already parted ways with the Raptors — for the franchise.
Masai Ujiri: “It still hasn’t sunk in. It’s such a big thing for our city, our country, our team.” Jokes he was sweating the same way last summer, “different kind of sweat” (after trade). Again shouts out DeRozan, Casey and Valanciunas for foundation-building.
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) June 25, 2019
While this season proved to be the pinnacle of what the entire Raptors organization have been building up to over the past few years, it is without question that the aforementioned gentlemen above had their hand in helping bring the team to the heights that they have reached today.
DeRozan was the team's long-time cornerstone superstar before Ujiri decided to pull the trigger on a deal that would send the former to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kawhi Leonard. While this was initially viewed by most as an ultimate betrayal, it has actually proven to be one of, if not the most important moves Ujiri has pulled off in his tenure as team president.
Prior to the DeRozan-Leonard trade last summer, Ujiri was once again criticized for firing Dwane Casey after a Coach of the Year-winning season with the Raptors. Again, this move eventually paid dividends with Nick Nurse being selected as Casey's replacement.
For his part, Valanciunas also spent many years with Toronto prior to being offloaded in the middle of last season to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Marc Gasol, who in turn would also play his part for the Raptors' historic title run.
Ujiri has been pragmatic in his dealings, but this does not mean that he fails to recognize all the contributions guys like DeRozan, Casey, and Valanciunas have provided for his team.
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