The idea of the Raptors temporarily moving to Tampa Bay and playing out of the Lightning’s Amalie Arena first presented itself during a conversation between Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas and Lightning GM Julien BriseBois. From there, the idea was handed over to Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment chief revenue officer Jeff Deline and Lightning CEO Steve Griggs. Dubas, who has a close relationship with both Webster and Raptors president Masai Ujiri, downplayed his role in the process.
Masai Ujiri Rumors
And maybe it’s just a little bit worse because as Marc Spears, the respected insider from ESPN’s The Undefeated, said on Sportsnet, “if he was going to go anywhere, it was going to be Toronto,” citing Antetokounmpo’s relationship with Masai Ujiri and a growing appreciation for his Nigerian heritage after he grew up as an illegal immigrant in Greece.
But Ujiri is a pending free agent again. His eighth season with the team is also the final year of his current contract, and all signals are that he is in no rush to sign an extension. The people he works for? They would have signed him yesterday if they could.
“I can promise you, it’s not [MLSE],” said a source with knowledge of the ownership’s thinking. “They’d have to be nuts not to [want to sign him]. It’s not like there’s a Plan A and a Plan B. There’s only Plan A, and it’s him. “But he’s a very deliberate guy, and the kind of guy you have to respect his space.”
But on his own deal he was far less definitive, citing that the logistics of seeing the team through the relocation from Toronto to Tampa Bay as a short-term obstacle, just as seeing the team through the pandemic and the restart was an obstacle before that. The two sides haven’t talked in depth about his contract since February, according to sources.
In conversations with other NBA executives and other league insiders, the consensus is his track record — his teams have made 10 consecutive playoff appearances and averaged more than 50 wins — and league-wide profile, combined with the leverage he has, will almost certainly make him the highest-paid executive in the league for now and into the foreseeable future. The bidding will start at $12 million a year. “Masai has gotten to the point where he’s maxed the market as it relates to someone in his position,” said one well-positioned league insider. “As far as a front-office person is concerned, he’s going to make the most money that a front-office person has ever made, and he’s probably going to be able to hold that, where no one is going to be able to usurp that number.”
Masai Ujiri not in a rush to sign an extension
Ujiri is a pending free agent again. His eighth season with the team is also the final year of his current contract, and all signals are that he is in no rush to sign an extension. The people he works for? They would have signed him yesterday if they could. “I can promise you, it’s not [MLSE],” said a source with knowledge of the ownership’s thinking. “They’d have to be nuts not to [want to sign him]. It’s not like there’s a Plan A and a Plan B. There’s only Plan A, and it’s him. But he’s a very deliberate guy, and the kind of guy you have to respect his space.”
