Masai Ujiri Will Visit Contract Situation this Summer, Says Raptors is in his Blood

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri said he will visit a contract extension with the organization after the season is over

Aaron Rose | Mar 25, 2021

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

With Kyle Lowry's situation sorted out for the rest of this season, attention has turned to the president of the Toronto Raptors, Masai Ujiri.

Ujiri is in the final year of his contract with the organization and has yet to sign an extension with the organization creating major question marks heading into the offseason.

"We'll visit this at the end of the season at some point," Ujiri said of his contract Thursday night. "We'll be fine. [The] Raptors will be fine."

The Raptors' long-term outlook changed a little bit on Thursday. The organization traded away Norman Powell for 22-year-old Gary Trent Jr. and 28-year-old Rodney Hood in a deal to acquire assets for the future. However, the front office decided to keep Lowry heading into the final months of his contract. It has created a dynamic where the organization could be in store for even more turnover this summer with Lowry and Ujiri both heading for free agency.

Regardless of how things go, Ujiri is confident in the organization's future.

"That place is incredible. The ownership, city, the country, everything it stands for. I wish it on anybody in this world that can experience it, it's incredible," He said. "Anybody that can experience my position, God bless you. It's a big, it's a big, big blessing. There's nothing else I can say about the Toronto Raptors. It's amazing."

Ujiri said his contract situation in no way impact the organization's decision to keep Lowry.

"No impact nothing. This is my job. I'm a Raptor," he said. "[I] love this team, love everything about this organization, and we will visit [that] at the end of the season and I think that's fair on every side. But I never ever have once thought going into a day like this, I think about what I'm doing or myself, it's not the way like this things work. It's not the way I was raised, it's not the way I look at things at all.

"It doesn't matter what happens, Raptors is inside here. It's in the blood. This is what we live, this is what we do. I love doing it, I love it to death"

Further Reading