Masai Ujiri, the president for basketball operations of the Toronto Raptors, is considered as the main architect behind the Raptors' historic championship. However, he was definitely painted in a different light a year ago, especially after he decided to trade Toronto's adopted son, DeMar DeRozan.
DeRozan was seen as a loyal servant, and when Ujiri sent him to Texas in exchange for Kawhi Leonard (who's health was then a big mystery), the team executive was viewed as a heartless villain who failed to appreciate all the sacrifices DeRozan had done for the Raptors.
In truth, DeMar admitted to have felt the same way on the onset, but it appears that he was eventually able to move on from the incident. As a matter of fact, DeRozan gave Ujiri a hug when the Spurs were in town to face the Raptors — a gesture that signified that he had already let bygones be bygones.
Ujiri says when Spurs visited Toronto, DeRozan came into Raptors locker room, hugged him and asked him how his family was doing.
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) June 25, 2019
This would have been a very emotional scene, and surely, it meant a lot for Ujiri at that point.
Nevertheless, Ujiri's pragmatism has definitely paid off, and the NBA title he brought home to Toronto serves as the best form of vindication he could ever hope for. However, much like DeRozan, Ujiri himself is not one to dwell on the past, so being the true professional that he is, there have been no “I told you so” statements from him or anything along these lines, and we fully expect this to be the theme moving forward.
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