{"id":1920965,"date":"2026-05-05T22:46:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T19:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1920965"},"modified":"2026-05-05T22:46:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T19:46:24","slug":"masai-ujiri-to-examine-jason-kidd-mavericks-from-head-to-toe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1920965","title":{"rendered":"Masai Ujiri to examine Jason Kidd, Mavericks \u2018from head to toe\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DALLAS \u2014 In 2014, Masai Ujiri was a fresh-faced executive in his first season as general manager of the Toronto Raptors. Before the team\u2019s first-round playoff series that spring, Ujiri got a little carried away at a fan rally in Toronto and cursed his team\u2019s opponent, the Brooklyn Nets.<\/p>\n

\u201cF\u2014 Brooklyn!\u201d Ujiri yelled to Raptors fans.<\/p>\n

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When then-Nets coach Jason Kidd was asked about Ujiri\u2019s comments, he said he didn\u2019t even know who Ujiri was.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou gotta tell me who the GM is,\u201d Kidd told reporters<\/a> in 2014. \u201cI don\u2019t even know who that is. I could care less what they think about Brooklyn. We have a job to do, and that\u2019s to play the game of basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kidd knows who Ujiri is now.<\/p>\n

Twelve years after Brooklyn beat Toronto in a seven-game, first-round playoff series, Ujiri has become Kidd\u2019s boss. On Monday, the Dallas Mavericks named Ujiri president of basketball operations and alternate governor<\/a>, finally filling a power vacuum that had existed for the past six months with an experienced executive who helped deliver Toronto its only NBA championship in franchise history in 2019.<\/p>\n

How Ujiri and Kidd will coexist in Dallas is a source of intrigue throughout the league. Kidd received a contract extension in October<\/a> and has multiple years remaining on his deal. Ujiri was noncommittal when The Athletic<\/em> asked him Tuesday if Kidd will be back for his sixth season as the Mavericks coach.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s done a great job, but we are going to look at this thing from head to toe\u201d Ujiri said. \u201cThat\u2019s the right way to look at an organization and evaluate in every single way we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Ujiri was asked a follow-up question about Kidd\u2019s future, he said his previous stops in Denver and Toronto might offer hints about how he\u2019d handle this situation. Ujiri inherited coach George Karl when he became the Nuggets\u2019 general manager in 2010; Karl stayed for three more seasons. Similarly, Ujiri inherited coach Dwane Casey upon arriving in Toronto in 2013; Casey remained the Raptors\u2019 coach for five more seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to hear coach Jason Kidd out, his thoughts on everything,\u201d Ujiri said. \u201cBecause some of the stuff here, I don\u2019t know. For me, it\u2019s that simple. If you go back to the history, it\u2019s the same thing. I have to follow the process here. I\u2019m excited to meet with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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If Kidd and Ujiri have one thing in common, it\u2019s their excitement level to work with reigning Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg. A year ago, Ujiri was hoping the Raptors would move up in the NBA Draft Lottery so they could select him. Toronto had a 7.5 percent chance at the No. 1 pick. Instead, the Mavericks \u2014 who had just a 1.8 percent chance of landing the top selection \u2014 won the Flagg sweepstakes, allowing them to avoid the nuclear winter scenario they put themselves in because of the failed Luka Don\u010di\u0107 trade.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Is<\/p>\n
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\n Is Cooper Flagg, at 19, already one of the NBA\u2019s best? Jason Kidd believes so\n <\/div>\n
\n Flagg joined Michael Jordan as the only NBA rookie to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals since the 1973-74 season.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cLuka is a Hall of Famer \u2014 a future Hall of Famer,\u201d Ujiri said. \u201cThat\u2019s the past. In Africa, we say, \u2018When kings go, kings come,\u2019 and a king went. We have a little prince here that we are going to turn into a king. I think we have to start thinking that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ujiri first met with Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont over a five-hour lunch in December. They had \u201cmultiple conversations\u201d over the ensuing five months that convinced both of them that Ujiri fit in Dallas. Mavericks CEO Rick Welts and president Ethan Casson \u2014 the two highest-ranking executives on Dallas\u2019 business side \u2014 assisted in the search.<\/p>\n

The whole way, team sources insisted the Mavericks would hire an experienced candidate who was comfortable facing the public. Dallas found exactly that in Ujiri.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to bring calm,\u201d Ujiri said. \u201cI hope to bring to this place winning. We want to get back to winning. This is a winning organization; we want to get back to that. I know the fanbase wants that. I know the organization wants that. I know leadership wants that. I know the NBA wants that. I\u2019m hoping, praying.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning is my drive. And winning is going to be the drive for this organization.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DALLAS \u2014 In 2014, Masai Ujiri was a fresh-faced executive in his first season as general manager of the Toronto Raptors. Before the team\u2019s first-round playoff series that spring, Ujiri got a little carried away at a fan rally in Toronto and cursed his team\u2019s opponent, the Brooklyn Nets. \u201cF\u2014 Brooklyn!\u201d Ujiri yelled to Raptors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1920965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1920965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1920965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1920965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1920965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1920965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1920965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}