The Dallas Mavericks have their man, and he's already addressing the elephant in the room. The Mavericks officially named Masai Ujiri as team president and alternate governor on Monday, ending a search that began back in December.
Ujiri brings 15 years of front-office experience to Dallas, a resume that includes the Toronto Raptors' 2018-19 championship and an Executive of the Year award with the Denver Nuggets in 2012-13. But before any talk of rebuilding could begin, one question was always going to come first - the Luka Doncic trade.
The February 2025 deal that sent Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for a package built around the injury-prone Anthony Davis left Mavericks fans furious, and that anger hasn't gone anywhere.
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Masai Ujiri didn't dodge it during his introductory press conference. He called Doncic a future Hall of Famer and made clear he understands why the fanbase is still hurting.
"There's a healing process with that," Ujiri said. "Luka is a future Hall of Famer, and that's the past. In Africa, we say, 'When Kings Go, Kings Come,' and a King went, we have a little prince here that we're going to turn into a King. I think we have to start thinking that way. Like, here. I understand what we've gone through."
Ujiri's Message to Dallas Mavericks Fans
He made sure not to dismiss the pain. Ujiri acknowledged that moving on from a player of Doncic's caliber takes time, and that the frustration from fans, the organization and the broader Dallas community is there. But he was also direct about where the focus needs to go now.
"There's no other way to do this than winning," he added. "Bringing all the players together, finding the right players, we have the draft, we have free agency, we have so many things. We have young players on our team. We have to now start focusing on this. We can't cry forever."
That last line captures where Ujiri stands. The grief over Doncic is valid, but it should have a shelf life. His job now is to build something worth getting excited about again in Dallas.
Ujiri walks into a franchise with genuine assets to work with. Draft capital, young talent and the tools to be active in free agency. The reset is already underway, and the man running it has done this before at the highest level. Mavericks fans may not be ready to fully turn the page yet, but Ujiri is.
