The Dallas Mavericks have finally replaced former general manager Nico Harrison, hiring former Toronto Raptors general manager and vice president Masai Ujiri, the team announced Monday.
“Masai Ujiri is one of the great basketball leaders of this generation and his addition to our franchise is a critical step in meeting our goals,” Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont said in a statement. “We are honored to have him join the Mavs family. We welcome his energy and determination along with his leadership, experience and many accomplishments as a basketball executive. We are very excited about the future of our team.”
After a six-month process to find a replacement after firing Harrison in November, the Mavericks have selected the guy who will lead them into a new era of the franchise with Cooper Flagg as the face of the team. Ujiri comes with championship experience, having built the 2019 Raptors championship team that notably included the savvy trade of DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard, which ultimately catapulted the team to the title.
“I’m honored to join the Dallas Mavericks and step into this role at such an important time for the organization,” Ujiri said in a statement. “This is a franchise with a proud history, passionate fans, and a commitment to winning. I look forward to working with our players, coaches, and leadership team to build something that reflects that standard and competes at the highest level. We will win in Dallas.”
Ujiri was with the Raptors for 12 seasons, during which Toronto made the playoffs in all but three seasons with him in charge of the front office. He and the Raptors parted ways in June 2025 and now he’ll bring a level of experience that Harrison severely lacked to Dallas.
Ujiri also recently became the primary owner of the WNBA’s expansion Toronto Tempo franchise. The Tempo will embark on their inaugural season when the WNBA season tips off on May 8th.
Where do the Mavericks go from here?
This should officially close the book on the Harrison era in Dallas, headlined by the trade that sent franchise centerpiece Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for a deal centered around Anthony Davis. It’s been a disaster for the Mavericks since, aside from lottery luck that landed them Flagg. Harrison was fired in November and Davis was traded back in February.
With Ujiri installed, the Mavericks can now look ahead to the draft lottery on May 10, where they hope for some more lottery luck to pair Flagg with another top prospect. The Mavericks have a 6.7% chance at landing the No. 1 pick and a 29% chance at landing in the top 4. But even if they aren’t blessed by the basketball gods once more, there’s plenty of talent to choose from at the top of the draft board. If the Mavericks get lucky, taking the best player available in the top 5, regardless of position, is probably the best move, but if they stay at eighth, which is their most likely landing spot, then drafting a point guard to pair with Flagg for the future should be the path.
With Kyrie Irving expected to be fully healthy next season, he’ll be able to alleviate some of the playmaking issues the Mavericks ran into this season. And if the Mavericks draft a young point guard, there aren’t very many better players to study under than Irving.
In regard to the rest of the roster, Ujiri will be walking into a unique situation that requires vision to get Dallas back on the path of contention. Will Ujiri want to strip this down and trade away guys like Klay Thompson, PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford and Naji Marshall in order to recoup the assets Harrison traded away? Or will he want to make this roster work with some slight tweaks on the edges?
Going the latter route would be ironic given it’s the path Harrison wanted to take in the wake of trading Dončić. Entering a full rebuild is never a situation a team wants to be in, but with Flagg only 19 years old, the Mavericks can afford a bit of patience. The only issue there is that Dallas doesn’t control any of their first-round picks between 2027 and 2030, so losing will only benefit other teams that control those picks.
We’ll have to wait and hear from Ujiri to see how he envisions the future of the Mavericks, because while hiring him checks a box, it still leaves a lot of questions in need of answers.
