MLSE part-owner and long-time chairman Larry Tanenbaum says Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri “is here to stay.”

Tanenbaum is not worried about another team trying to sign Ujiri away from the Raptors. The New York Knicks are believed to have heavy interest in Ujiri.

“We hope so,” Tanenbaum, who is MLSE part-owner and long-time chairman, said earlier this week at the Board of Governors’ meeting in Pebble Beach, California, via Michael Traikos of the Toronto Sun.

“We haven’t talked (about an extension) at this point in time, but if you ask him, his intentions are pretty clear. Masai has a contract that goes for another two years — this season and next season — so there’s really no need at this point (to re-sign him). He is the best. But no team can come to talk to him. That’s tampering. And every owner knows that. Masai is here to stay.”

A report from Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck over the weekend said Ujiri turned down a lucrative extension from the Raptors last summer and would be intrigued by the challenge of fixing the Knicks. While the Knicks part of that report may be true, Michael Grange of Sportsnet is refuting that the Raptors even offered Ujiri an extension.

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If Ujiri made the Knicks a winner again, the city of New York might build him a statue since the organization is currently the laughingstock of the NBA.

However, Ujiri should be careful here. The grass isn’t always greener. He has a good thing going with the Raptors, and it seems like the Knicks will always be putrid as long as owner James Dolan is there, no matter who is the president or coach.