Advertisement

Report: Raptors to begin contract talks with Masai Ujiri after season ends

As the Toronto Raptors finish out the finals games of the season, contract negotiations between the team’s President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri and chairman of Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment Larry Tanenbaum are reportedly set to begin, according to the Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons.

Simmons reported that Tanenbaum said him and Ujiri agreed "months ago" that talks would take place at the end of the regular season, which for the Raptors will be after Sunday's game against the Indiana Pacers. The club's seven-year playoff streak came to an end Monday when the Pacers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“We are both confident in that approach and Masai has shared that publicly in the past, when asked (about it),” Tanenbaum said.

Ujiri’s future with the organization has cast uncertainty over the franchise during the last several months amid a disappointing season on the court. His contract expires in the offseason and he will be a free agent this summer.

Since joining the Raptors organization as the executive vice president and general manager in 2013, Ujiri has led the franchise to the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons, including the team's first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2016.

Ujiri’s most crowning achievements came in 2018, when he traded franchise shooting guard DeMar DeRozan and center Jakob Poeltl to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. The move helped secure the team’s first NBA Championship in franchise history after defeating the Golden State Warriors in 2019.

More from Yahoo Sports