Report: Hawks interested in Raptors’ Masai Ujiri for vacant executive role

While most teams are busy scouting prospects ahead of next month’s NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks are looking to fill a role much higher up in their organization.

May 15, 2025 - 09:06

Report: Hawks interested in Raptors’ Masai Ujiri for vacant executive role

While most teams are busy scouting prospects ahead of next month’s NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks are looking to fill a role much higher up in their organization.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Hawks are interested in hiring Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri for their vacant head of basketball operations role.

Atlanta let go of general manager Landry Fields and promoted Canada’s Onsi Saleh in his place last month. The organization simultaneously announced that it would be initiating a search for a president to work alongside its new GM.

The Hawks entered the season with optimism after jumping up in the 2024 NBA Draft lottery and securing the No. 1 overall pick. But the addition of Zaccharie Risacher hardly moved the needle as that team finished 40-42 and was bounced out of the Play-In as a 10th seed for a second consecutive year.

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Atlanta is trying to make the most of a roster that already features an all-star guard in Trae Young and a handful of promising youngsters in Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Onyeka Okongwu.

Before the report of the Hawks’ interest in Ujiri, it had been reported that title-crafting executives Bob Myers and Tim Connelly, and a pair of ex-NBAers turned front office personnel in Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Elton Brand, were among those interviewing for the president role.

Meanwhile, aside from their interest in the Raptors’ big boss, Stein noted that “it was not immediately clear, league sources say, what sort of shot Atlanta has at prizing Ujiri away from the league’s lone Canadian franchise.”

Ujiri, the architect of Toronto’s first NBA championship back in 2019, signed a multi-year extension with the Raptors in 2021. That deal will expire in 2026.

The Raptors finished the 2024-25 season with a 30-52 record, 11th in the East and missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season.