NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith believes that Masai Ujiri made a mistake by staying with the Toronto Raptors and declining the Washington Wizards' offer.
Per the Bill Simmons podcast, Smith believes that Ujiri should've taken the Wizards' lucrative offer, noting that nothing will happen to his career in Toronto. As such, Smith believes that the right move for Ujiri would be to move on to another team and build something new. As transcribed by Steven Psihogios of Yahoo Sports:
“I think Masai made a mistake,” Smith stated. “I believe he should have taken a shot and gone to the nation’s capital to take over the Washington Wizards. I truly believe that… You have nowhere to go but down in Toronto…
“To me, once you do all of that, you throw all your chips on the table and you cash in with a championship, you move on.”
Over the summer, the Wizards reportedly offered Ujiri $10 million a year to rebuild their roster. But the executive turned down the offer and chose to stay with the Raptors. It was a bold move, but Ujiri claimed that he wants to stay with the Raptors and win more.
Ujiri rose to the ranks as one of the top executives after he won the NBA title last year. He did this amid the iffy situation involving Kawhi Leonard who wasn't sure about his future with the Raptors. Though Leonard did indeed move away, Ujiri's success raised eyebrows all over the league as an inspiring success story.
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